iA 


m^H 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00022245296 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/childslifeofchriholm 


LITTLE   ONES   SHOULD   BE    BROUGHT  TO   HIM. 


ALTEMUS'    ONE   SYLLABLE  SERIES 


A    CHILD'S 


Life  of  Christ 


IN   WORDS   OF  ONE  SYLLABLE 


PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY    ALT EMUS    COMPANY 


Ct^y right  iqoo,  by  Htnry  A  It emus 


Printed  in  the 
United  States  of  America 


A  CHILD'S 
LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    BIRTH    OF    CHRIST. 

IN  THE  days  of  He-rod,  the  king  of  Ju-dah, 
there  was  a  priest  whose  name  was  Zach-a- 
ri-us.  His  wife's  name  was  E-liz-a-beth. 
They  were  both  good  and  kept  God's  laws. 
They  had  no  child,  and  this  was  a  great  trial 
to  them.  One  day  while  the  priest  was  at 
work  in  the  House  of  God  an  an- gel  came  to 
him  and  said,  Thy  wife  shall  bear  thee  a  son,  and 
thou  shalt  call  his  name  John.  He  must  drink 
no  wine  nor  strong  drink,  for  he  shall  be  great 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord;  he  shall  turn  the  hearts 
of  men  from  their  sins  and  shall  tell  them  of  the 
Sa-viour  who  is  to  come.  The  priest  doubted 
this,  and  said,  How  shall  I  know  that  what  you 
tell  me  is  true?     Then  the  an-gel  said,  My  name 


4  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST 

is  Ga-bri-el  (which  means  Man  of  God),  and  I 
stand  near  to  God,  who  sent  me  to  tell  thee  'his 
good  news  ;  but  since  you  doubt  my  word  you 
shall  be  dumb  till  what  I  tell  you  comes  to  pass. 

So  Zach-a-ri-us  lost  his  voice  and  for  some 
months  he  could  not  speak  a  word.  Then  the 
babe  was  born,  and  when  he  was  eight  days  old 
it  was  time  to  name  him  and  give  him  to  the 
Lord.  The  wife's  friends  said  he  ought  to  be 
named  Zach-a-ri-us,  but  she  said,  No,  he  shall 
be  called  John  (which  means  The  Lord  is  gra- 
cious). Then  they  said  as  none  of  her  kin  bore 
that  name  it  was  not  well  to  give  it  to  the  child, 
and  they  made  signs  to  the  priest  who  could  not 
yet  speak,  and  asked  what  he  would  have  him 
called.  And  he  wrote,  His  name  is  John.  And 
then  his  voice  came  back,  and  he  spake  out  loud 
and  blessed  the  Lord. 

All  the  folks  were  full  of  awe  and  fear,  and 
said,  What  sort  of  child  shall  this  be?  They  did 
not  know  what  the  an-gel  had  told  the  priest  in 
the  church ;  and  that  this  babe  was  one  day  to 
be  the  great  John  the  Bap-tist. 

The  same  an-gel  was  sent  to  tell  Ma-ry  that 
she,  too,  should  have  a  son.     He   said  she  must 


THE  AN-GEL  SPEAKS  TO  THE  SHEP-HERDS 


$  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

name  the  child  Je-sus,  And  he  shall  be  called  the 
Son  of  God,  for  he  was  the  One  the  Lord  had 
told  Ad-am  and  Eve  of — the  One  who  was  to 
come  down  to  the  world  and  save  men  from 
Sa-tan. 

And  Ma-ry  said,  Let  the  Lord's  will  be  done 
to  me  as  thou  hast  said  !  Ma-ry  was  the  wife 
of  Jo-seph,  and  though  they  were  poor  they  were 
of  good  birth,  for  they  both  sprang  from  the 
House  of  Da-vid.  At  this  time  the  Jews  were 
ruled  by  the  Ro-mans,  who  made  a  law  that  all 
Jews  should  go  to  the  town  from  which  the  head 
of  their  house  sprang,  so  that  they  might  be 
counted  and  pay  a  tax.  Beth-le-hem  was  the 
town  of  Da-vid,  so  Jo-seph  and  Ma-ry  went 
there ;  but  as  the  town  was  crowded  there  was 
no  room  for  them  in  the  inn,  and  they  had  to 
sleep  in  an  out  house  or  barn  where  the  farm 
beasts  were  kept.  While  they  were  there  Ma- 
ry's babe  was  born  ;  and  as  there  was  no  bed  in 
the  barn,  she  wrapped  him  in  the  bands  which 
she  had  with  her,  and  laid  him  in  the  trough  in 
which  hay  was  kept  for  the  beasts. 

That  night  some  men  who  were  with  their 
flocks  of  sheep  in  the   fields   near   Beth-le-hem 


Copyright,  1904,  by  Henry  Allemus 

THE  IN-FANT  JE-SUS 


g  A    CHILD'S    LIFE    OF    CHRIST. 

saw  a  bright  light  in  the  sky,  and  an  an-gel 
came  down  and  said  to  them,  Fear  not,  for  I 
bring  you  good  news.  To  you,  is  born  this  day, 
in  the  town  of  Da-vid,  a  Sa-viour,  who  is  Christ 
the  Lord.  By  this  sign  you  shall  know  the 
babe  ;  He  is  wrapped  in  long  bands  and  lies  in 
the  trough  from  which  the  beasts  feed.     Then  a 

o 

host  of  an-gels  came  and  sang:  Praise  be  to 
God  on  high,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  to 
men  ! 

The  men  were  dazed  by  these  strange  sights 
and  sounds;  but  their  hearts  were  full  of  joy  and, 
as  soon  as  the  an-gel  host  left  they  said,  Let  us 
now  go  to  Beth-le-hem,  and  see  this  thing  which 
is  come  to  pass,  which  the  Lord  hath  made 
known  to  us.  They  went  in  haste  and  found 
Ma-ry,  and  Jo-seph,  and  the  babe.  They  told 
Ma-ry  what  had  been  told  them  of  her  child, 
and  they  told  the  good  news  to  all  whom  they 
met  on  their  way  back  to  their  flocks  and   herds. 

Four  hun-dred  years  ere  the  babe  of  Beth- 
le-hem  was  born  some  of  the  seers  had  said  that 
a  child  of  the  house  of  Da-vid  should  one  day 
come  to  rule  the  world,  and  he  will  be  the  King 
of  the  Jews. 


THE  WISE  MEN  BROUGHT  PRES-ENTS 


10 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 


By  these  words  the  seers  meant  that  this 
child  should  reign  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and,  by 
his  own  life  on  earth,  should  teach  them  how 
they  ought  to  live.  But  the  Jews  thought  they 
meant  that  he  would  be  a  great  king  like  Da-vid 
and  Sol-o-mon,  and  would  free  them  from  all 
their  foes  and  make  them  rich  and  great.  For 
years  they  looked  and  longed  for  this  child  to 
come,  and  wise  men  in  all  lands  watched  for  a 
new  star  which  it  was  said  would  make  known 
his  birth. 

Near  the  time  that  Ma-ry's  babe  was  born, 
while  he  was  still  quite  young,  some  wise  and 
rich  men  from  a  far  off  land  came  to  Je-ru-sa- 
lem  and  said,  Where  is  he  that  is  born  King  of 
the  Jews  ?  for  we  have  seen  his  star  in  the  East, 
and  have  come  to  see  him  and  pay  our  vows  to 
him. 

He-rod  was  vexed  when  he  heard  these 
words,  for  he  knew  the  Jews  did  not  like  him, 
and  would  be  glad  to  have  some  one  else  rule 
them,  and  he  feared  this  new  king  would  one 
day  take  his  crown  from  him.  He  made  up  his 
mind  to  get  rid  of  the  child  at  once,  and  to  that 
end  he  asked  his  scribes  and   priests  where   it 


JE-SUS  IN  THE  CAR-PEN-TER  SHOP 


11 


12  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

was  that  Christ  should  be  born.  They  told  him 
in  the  town  of  Beth-le-hem.  He  bade  the  wise 
men  from  the  East  to  go  and  find  him;  and  told 
them  when  they  had  seen  the  boy  to  come  back 
and  tell  him  where  he  was  so  that  he,  too,  might 
go  to  see  him  and  bring  gifts,  and  give  him 
praise. 

So  the  wise  men  set  out  once  more,  and  lo, 
the  bright  star  they  had  seen  in  the  East  went 
in  front  of  them  till  it  came  to  the  spot  where 
the  child  was.  Then  it  stood  still,  while  they 
went  in  and  bowed  to  Je-sus  (that  was  the 
babe's  name)  and  gave  him  the  gold  and  myrrh 
they  had  brought  for  him.  God  warned  them  in 
a  dream  not  to  let  He-rod  know  where  Je-sus 
was;  so  they  went  home  by  a  new  way.  When 
they  were  gone,  an  an-gel  of  the  Lord  came  to 
Jo-seph,  in  a  dream,  and  said,  Take  the  wife 
and  babe  and  flee  to  Egypt,  and  stay  there  till  I 
bring  thee  word;  for  He-rod  will  seek  the  young 
child  to  slay  him.  So  Joseph  fled  to  Egypt, 
and  stayed  there  as  long  as  He-rod  lived. 

For  some  time  He-rod  watched  for  the  wise 
men  to  come  back  and  tell  him  where  to  find  the 
child;  but  they  did  not  come,  and  when  he  found 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 


13 


they  had  mocked  him  he  was  wroth  and  sent 
men  to  Beth-le-hem  to  kill  all  the  boys  who 
were  less  than  two  years  old.  He  did  not  know 
that  Je-sus  was  safe  in  Egypt. 

When  He-rod  was  dead,  an  an-gel  came  in 
a  dream  to  Jo-seph,  and  said,  Rise  and  take  thy 
wife  and  thy  son  and  go  back  to  the  land  of 
Is-ra-el;  for  they  are  dead  who  sought  the 
young  child's  life.  So  they  went  back  and  made 
their  home  in  the  town  of  Naz-a-reth. 

Each  year  Jo-seph  and  Ma-ry  went  to  Je- 
ru-sa-lem  to  a  great  feast  which  God  said  the 
Jews  should  hold  once  a  year  to  keep  them  in 
mind  of  the  time  when  he  brought  them  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  where  they  had  been  slaves 
so  long.  When  Je-sus  was  twelve  years  old 
they  took  him  with  them  to  this  feast,  and  when 
it  was  at  an  end  and  they  set  out  on  their  way 
back  home,  he  stayed  in  Je-ru-sa-lem.  But 
they  did  not  know  this,  for  there  was  a  large 
crowd  with  them,  and  when  they  missed  their 
son,  they  thought  he  was  with  some  of  their 
friends,  but  when  night  came  on  and  they  could 
not  find  him,  their  hearts  grew  sad  and  they 
turned  back  full  of  grief  and  fear. 


14  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

At  the  end  of  three  days  they  found  him  in 
the  tem-ple  where  he  sat  with  the  priests  and 
wise  men  and  talked  to  them  as  if  he  were  as 
old  and  as  wise  as  they  were.  All  who  heard 
him  thought  it  strange  that  a  child  should  know 
so  much,  and  Ma-ry  said,  Son  why  hast  thou 
thus  dealt  with  us  ?  We  have  sought  thee  with 
sad  hearts.  But  Je-sus  said,  How  is  it  that  ye 
sought  me?  Did  ye  not  know  that  I  must  do 
my  Fa-ther's  work?  By  these  words  he  meant 
to  show  them  that  he  knew  he  was  the  Son  of 
God,  and  that  it  was  right  for  him  to  be  in  God's 
house,  and  learn  to  do  the  work  God  sent  him 
on  earth  to  do.  They  did  not  know  what  he 
meant,  but  Ma-ry  kept  these  words  in  her  heart 
and  thought  of  what  the  an-gel  had  told  her  ere 
her  babe  was  born.  Je-sus  went  home  with 
Jo-seph  and  Ma-ry,  and  for  near  a  score  of 
years  we  hear  no  more  of  him,  though  we  are 
told  that  he  grew  in  grace  as  he  grew  in  age, 
and  that  he  was  loved  of  God  and  man 

All  this  time  no  one  knew  that  he  was  the 
Christ  for  whom  all  men  watched,  though  John 
the  Bap-tist  told  the  Jews  that  the  One  they 
looked  for  would  soon  come  to  save  them  if  they 


JO-SEPH  AND  MA-RY  FIND  JE-SUS 


15 


16  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

would  turn  from  their  sins  and  put  their  whole 
trust  in  him.  For  a  long  time  John  lived  in  the 
wild  woods,  ate  poor  food,  and  wore  clothes  made 
of  coarse  hair.  His  work  was  to  tell  of  the 
Christ  who  was  to  come,  and  to  teach  men  how 
to  make  room  for  him  in  their  hearts,  as  well  as 
to  bap-tize  all  who  wished  to  give  up  their  sins 
and  lead  a  pure  life.  This  is  why  he  was  called 
the  Bap-tist. 

One  day  as  John  walked  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jor-dan,  Je-sus  came  to  him  to  be  bap-tized,  and 
as  soon  as  this  was  done,  a  bright  light  shone  in 
the  sky  in  the  shape  of  a  dove  and  came  down 
and  rested  on  the  head  of  Je-sus,  and  a  voice 
from  the  sky  was  heard  to  say,  This  is  my  dear 
Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased  1 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE    FIRST    MIR-A-CLE THE   WOM-AN 

AT    THE    WELL. 

AS  JE-SUS  was  God,  and  had  done  no  sin. 
he   did   not  need  bap-tism.     But  he  was 
man,  too,  and  came  in  that  form  down  to 
the  world  to  show  men  what  they  ought  to  do, 


JE-SUS  TURNS  WA-TER  INTO  WINE 


2— Child's  Life  of  Christ,  one  syl. 


17 


18  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

so  he  wished  to  be  bap-tized  ere  he  set  out  to  do 
his  life  work.  He  was  grown  now,  and  it  was 
time  for  him  to  leave  his  home  in  Naz-a-reth  and 
go  where  he  could  do  the  most  good.  As  soon 
as  he  was  bap-tized,  he  left  the  Jor-dan,  and 
went  to  live  for  a  time  in  the  woods,  where  he 
had  no  one  to  speak  to,  and  no  food  to  eat.  We 
do  not  know  just  what  he  did  in  this  place,  but 
we  may  be  sure  he  felt  much  pain  and  woe,  and 
learned  to  know  all  the  griefs  and  ills  men  have 
to  bear.  The  dev-il  came  to  him  in  these  woods 
as  he  had  once  come  to  Ad-am  and  Eve  in  Eden, 
and  tried  to  tempt  him  in  all  sorts  of  ways,  but 
Je-sus  paid  no  heed  to  his  words.  Get  thee 
hence,  Sa-tan!  cried  Je-sus,  and  Sa-tan  flies,  to 
tempt  him  no  more,  and  the  hosts  of  God  came 
to  soothe  and  feed  him  who  has  borne  so  much. 
At  the  end  of  five  or  six  weeks,  Je-sus  left 
these  woods,  or  wild  lands,  and  went  back  to  the 
Jor-dan,  where  John  the  Bap-tist  was.  When 
John  saw  him,  he  cried :  This  is  the  Lamb  of 
God,  who  bears  the  sins  of  the  world;  and  when 
two  men,  named  John  and  An-drew,  who  were 
with  the  Bap-tist,  heard  this,  they  went  to  Je-sus 
and  asked  him  where  he  lived.     He  said :  Come 


JE-SUS  CLEANS-ES  THE  TEM-PLE 


19 


20  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

and  see.  So  they  went  home  with  him ;  and 
An-drew  brought  his  brother  Pe-ter,  and  said, 
We  have  found  the  Christ !  The  next  day 
two  more  men,  Phil-ip  and  Na-than-ael,  came  to 
Je-sus,  and  they  all  went  with  him  to  a  feast  in 
the  town  of  Ca-na.  Ma-ry  was  at  the  feast,  too, 
and  when  the  wine  was  all  gone,  she  told  her  son 
they  had  need  of  more  wine.  Je-sus  bade  them 
fill  six  stone  jars  fall  of  wa-ter,  and  then  draw  it 
out ;  and  when  they  did  this,  they  found  the 
wa-ter  had  turned  to  wine.  This  was  the  first 
great  act  Je-sus  did,  and  those  who  saw  it  took 
it  as  a  sign  that  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  for  no 
mere  man  could  do  such  a  thing. 

From  Ca-na  Je-sus  went  to  Ca-per-na-um, 
and  in  a  few  days  kept  on  to  Je-ru-sa-lem  to  the 
Great  Feast.  There  he  saw  some  men  sell  lambs 
and  doves  in  the  House  of  God  ;  and  he  drove 
them  out,  for  he  said  his  Fa-ther's  house  was  a 
place  to  pray  in,  and  no  one  should  buy  and  sell 
there.  When  the  Jews  asked  him  to  show  them 
a  sign  that  he  had  a  right  to  do  this,  he  said, 
Tear  down  this  house,  and  in  three  days  I  will 
raise  it  up.  They  said,  It  took  six  and  two  score 
years  to  build  this  house,  and  wilt  thou  rear  it  up 


JE-SUS  AND  THE  WOMAN  OF  SA-MA-RI-A 


21 


22  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

in  three  days?  They  did  not  know  that  Je-sus 
took  this  way  to  tell  them  that  when  they  killed 
him  (as  he  knew  they  would  do)  he  would  rise 
from  the  dead  on  the  third  day. 

While  he  was  in  Je-ru-sa-lem,  at  the  feast, 
Je-sus  did  such  great  and  strange  things,  that 
some  folks  had  faith  in  him,  but  their  faith  was 
so  weak  that  Je-sus  dared  not  trust  in  them,  for 
he  knew  they  would  not  stand  by  him  in  time  of 
need.  One  of  the  men  who  had  some  faith,  and 
wished  to  know  more  of  Je-sus,  was  named  Nic- 
o-de-mus.  He  came  to  Je-sus  by  night,  and 
asked  him  how  and  why  he  wrought  these  great 
works.  Je-sus  told  him  God  had  sent  him 
to  be  King  of  the  Jews,  to  set  up  his  realm 
in  their  hearts,  and  help  them  to  quit  their  sins, 
and  be  pure  and  good  like  new  born  babes.  He 
said  that  Je-sus  must  die  to  save  the  world, 
and  that  all  those  who  turned  to  the  Son 
of  God  on  the  cross,  would  be  saved,  just  as 
those  Is-rael-ites,  whom  the  snakes  bit,  were 
saved,  when  they  looked  at  the  brass  snake  on 
the  pole.  From  that  time  Nic-o-de-mus  was  a 
good  friend  to  Je-sus,  and  must  have  thought  of 
this  talk  when  he  saw  him  die  on  the  cross. 


JE-SUS  HEALS  A  LEP-ER 


23 


24  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

On  his  way  from  Je-ru-sa-lem  to  Gal-i-lee, 
Je-sus  had  to  pass  through  Sa-ma-ria.  The 
folks  of  that  land  did  not  like  the  Jews,  nor  did 
the  Jews  like  them.  Near  the  town  of  Sy-char, 
in  Sa-ma-ria,  was  a  deep,  cool  well,  and  Je-sus 
stopped  at  it  to  rest  and  quench  his  thirst.  It 
was  the  noon  hour,  and  a  wom-an  with  her  jar 
on  her  head  came  to  the  well.  Je-sus  asked  her 
to  let  him  drink  from  it,  she  said  she  thought  it 
was  strange  for  a  Jew  to  ask  her  for  a  drink. 
But  he  told  her  if  she  knew  with  whom  she  spoke, 
she  would  be  glad  to  ask  him  for  a  gift,  and 
he  would  give  it  to  her.  They  had  a  long  talk, 
and  when  she  found  that  he  knew  who  she  was, 
and  all  the  wrong  things  she  had  done,  she  said 
he  must  be  a  great  seer.  Je-sus  told  her  he  was 
more  than  a  seer,  for  he  was  the  Christ.  When 
she  heard  this,  she  went  to  the  town  in  haste  and 
said  to  her  friends,  Come  see  a  man  who  told  me 
all  the  things  I  have  done  in  my  whole  life — is 
not  this  the  Christ? 

A  crowd  soon  poured  out  through  the  gate  of 
the  town  to  see  this  strange  Jew,  who  can  read 
the  heart  and  past  life  of  one  whom  he  meets  for 
the  first  time. 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  25 

Those  that  had  faith  in  him,  begged  him  to 
make  his  home  with  them.  He  stayed  two  days, 
and  then  they  said  to  the  wom-an,  All  that  you 
told  us  is  true ;  now  that  we  have  seen  him  and 
heard  his  words,  we  know  that  he  is  the  Christ, 
the  Sa-viour  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  III. 

JE-SUS    HEALS    THE    SICK. 

AT  THE  end  of  two  days  Je-sus  left  Sy- 
char,  and  kept  on  to  Gal-i-lee,  and  the 
folks  there  were  glad  to  have  him  come, 
for  some  of  them  had  been  at  the  Great  Feast  in 
Je-ru-sa-lem,  and  had  seen  the  things  he  did 
there.  While  he  was  in  Ca-na,  where  he  had 
changed  the  wa-ter  to  wine,  a  rich  man  who 
lived  in  Ca-per-na-um,  and  dwelt  at  the  Court 
of  the  King,  came  and  begged  him  to  go  home 
with  him,  and  heal  his  son,  who  was  sick. 

This  man  had  heard  of  the  good  works 
Je-sus  did,  and  he  had  faith  to  think  he  could 
cure  his  son,  if  he  would  but  come  and  touch 
him.     To  show  him  that  he  could   do   still  more 


26  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

than  this,  Je-sus  said,  Go  thy  way,  thy  son  is 
well.  Full  of  joy  and  thanks  the  rich  man  left 
Ca-na,  for  he  now  knew  that  Je-sus  could  cure 
with  a  word,  as  well  as  with  a  touch,  and  he  felt 
sure  he  should  find  his  boy  well,  though  Je-sus 
did  not  go  near  him.  And  such  was  the  case, 
for  on  his  way  home  he  met  some  of  the  men  of 
his  house  who  had  come  to  bring  him  the  good 
news  that  the  lad  was  healed.  He  asked  at 
what  time  this  took  place,  and  when  they  told 
him  he  knew  it  was  the  same  hour  in  which 
Je-sus  had  said,  Thy  son  is  made  well.  From 
that  day  he  and  his  whole  house  felt  in  their 
hearts  that  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  the  Sa-viour 
of  the  world. 

The  fame  of  Je-sus  now  spread,  and  all  who 
could  do  so  brought  their  sick  to  him  to  be 
healed.  But  the  men  of  Naz-a-reth,  the  town  in 
which  Je-sus  had  been  brought  up,  did  not  love 
and  trust  him.  Once  when  he  was  in  Naz-a-reth 
he  went  to  church,  and  they  asked  him  to  read 
the  Scroll  to  them  and  preach.  Je-sus  stands  up 
to  read,  and  makes  choice  of  the  part  where  one 
of  the  old  seers  told  the  Chil-dren  of  Is-ra-el  of 
the  Sa-viour,  who  would  one  day  come  to  help 


THE  WON-DER-FUL  DRAUGHT  CF  FISH-ES 


97 


28  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

the  sick  and  the  sad,  give  sight  to  the  blind,  and 
bring  good  news  to  all.  Then  he  closed  the 
book,  and  said,  These  words  have  come  to  pass, 
for  I  am  the  Christ  of  whom  the  seer  spoke.  I 
am  the  Son  of  God,  and  he  sent  me  to  heal  the 
sick,  to  make  the  deaf  hear,  the  blind  see,  the 
lame  walk,  and  to  speak  words  of  peace  and  joy 
to  all  men. 

These  words  made  a  great  stir  in  the  church, 
and  some  of  those  who  heard  them  were  full  of 
rage  and  scorn.  They  said  that  Je-sus  did  not 
speak  the  truth  when  he  said  he  was  the  Son 
of  God,  for  they  had.  known  him  all  his  life  and 
they  knew  him  to  be  the  son  of  Jo-seph.  In 
their  fierce  wrath  they  thrust  him  out  of  the 
town  and  led  him  to  the  edge  of  a  high  hill  to  cast 
him  down  and  kill  him.  But  Je-sus  knew  his 
work  was  not  yet  done  and  that  it  was  not  time 
for  him  to  die;  so  he  passed  through  the  midst 
of  them  and  went  his  way. 

As  he  stood  on  the  shore  of  Gal-i-lee  and 
watched  the  men  at  work  with  their  boats  and 
nets,  great  crowds  came  out  to  meet  him  He 
stepped  in  Pe-ter's  boat  and  asked  him  to  push 
it  out  a  few  feet  from  the  bank,  so  that  all  the 


JE-SUS  TEACH-ES  THE  PEO-PLE 


29 


30  A    CHILD'S    LIFE    OF    CHRIST. 

crowd  could  see  and  hear  him.  Then  he  sat  in 
the  boat,  in  full  view  of  those  on  the  shore,  and 
taught  the  folks  who  were  on  the  shore.  When 
he  got  through  he  said  to  Pe-ter  and  An-drew, 
Launch  out  to  the  deep  sea  and  let  down  your 
nets  for  a  draught.  Pe-ter  said,  We  have 
worked  all  night  and  have  caught  no  fish,  but  at 
thy  word  we  will  let  down  the  nets  once  more. 
They  did  this,  and  the  net  was  so  full  of  fish 
that  it  broke  with  their  weight.  James  and 
John,  who  were  in  the  next  boat,  went  to  help 
them,  and  the  load  of  fish  was  like  to  sink 
both  ships. 

When  Pe-ter  saw  this,  he  fell  at  the  feet  of 
Je-sus,  and  owned  his  sins.  Je-sus  said,  Fear 
not,  but  come  with  me  and  I  will  teach  you  to 
catch  men.  So  Pe-ter,  An-drew,  James,  and 
John  left  their  ships  and  nets  and  all  that  they 
had,  and  went  with  Je-sus,  as  they  felt  sure  he 
was  in  truth  the  Son  of  God.  He  now  had  six 
friends  with  him,  and  in  the  course  of  time  more 
came,  till  at  last  he  had  quite  a  large  band.  [A 
dis-ci-ple  is  one  who  learns,  and  as  these  men 
came  to  Je-sus  to  learn  of  him,  they  were  called 
his  dis-ci-ples.] 


JE-SUS  CALMS  THE  WINDS  AND  THE  WAVES 


31 


32  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

The  next  Sab-bath  day  Je-sus  preached,  as 
was  his  wont  all  the  time  he  lived  in  Ca-per- 
na-um.  There  was  a  man  in  the  church  who 
had  a  fiend  (in  those  days  a  man  who  had  fits 
was  said  to  have  fiends)  and  he  cried  out  and 
said,  What  have  we  to  do  with  thee,  thou  Je-sus 
of  Naz-a-reth  ?  I  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the 
Holy  One  of  God.  Je-sus  bade  the  fiend  be 
still  and  come  out  of  the  man;  then  it  cried  with 
a  loud  voice  and  came  out,  and  at  once  the  man 
was  well  and  in  his  right  mind.  This  was  the 
first  mir-a-cle  of  this  kind  Je-sus  wrought. 
From  the  church  Je-sus  went  to  Pe-ter's  house, 
and  when  he  heard  that  Pe-ter's  wife's  mo-ther 
was  sick,  he  took  her  by  the  hand  and  raised  her 
up  and  healed  her.  These  two  good  works  were 
the  talk  of  the  town  that  day,  and  when  the  sun 
set  all  sorts  of  sick  folks,  and  those  that  had 
fiends,  were  brought  to  Je-sus  to  be  cured.  He 
cast  out  the  fiends  and  made  all  the  sick  folks 
well  that  night;  and  soon  next  day,  long  ere  it 
was  light,  he  stole  off  to  a  lone  spot  where  he 
might  talk  to  his  Fa-ther,  and  pray.  For  though 
he  was  the  Son  of  God  he  came  to  this  world  to 
be  a  man,  and  while  he  was  on  earth  he  had  the 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  33 

same  sort  of  griefs  and  pains  that  men  had,  and 
the  same  need  of  help  to  bear  them. 

But  he  had  not  prayed  long  ere  Pe-ter  and 
the  rest  came  and  said,  All  men  seek  thee. 
Je-sus  told  -them  he  could  not  stay  in  Ca-per- 
na-um  all  the  time,  but  must  now  go  to  the  next 
town  to  preach.  And  he  taught  in  all  the 
towns,  and  his  fame  spread,  and  great  crowds 
went  to  hear  him.  Near  one  of  these  towns  a 
poor  lep-er  came  and  knelt  at  the  feet  of  Je-sus 
and  said,  Lord,  if  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me 
clean.  Je-sus  said,  I  will;  be  thou  clean;  and  at 
once  the  sores  left  the  man,  and  he  was  made  clean, 
and  went  off  and  told  far  and  wide  what  Je-sus 
had  done  for  him,  so  that  sick  folks  came  from  all 
parts  of  Gal-i-lee  to  be  healed. 

Lep-ro-sy  is  a  dread  dis-ease,  and  one  who 
is  sick  with  it  leads  a  sad  life ;  for  folks  dare  not 
go  near  him,  lest  they,  too,  should  catch  it.  The 
lep-er  knows  he  can  not  get  well,  but  must  die  a 
slow  death,  for  it  does  not  kill  all  at  once.  It  eats 
its  way  through  the  body  bit  by  bit,  and  kills  one 
part  at  a  time :  first  the  foot  or  hand,  then  the  leg 
or  arm,  then  the  nose  or  ears,  and  so  on — it  may 
be  for  years — till  this  death  in  life  comes  to  an 

* — Child's  Life  of  Christ,  one  syl. 


34  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

end,  and  the  lep-er  dies.  Now  sin  is  like  lep- 
ro-sy,  and  kills  the  soul  of  him  who  sins  in  the 
same  way  that  lep-ro-sy  kills  the  body  of  the 
lep-er.  First  comes  a  small  sin,  and  if  one  does 
not  at  once  drive  it  out  of  the  heart,  it  is  soon 
joined  by  a  lar-ger  one,  then  by  one  still  worse, 
and  so  on  till  no  true  life  is  left  in  the  poor  sin- 
sick  soul.  Long  ere  Je-sus  was  born,  one  of  the 
old  seers  said,  The  soul  that  sins  shall  die;  but 
Je-sus  came  to  save  men's  souls  far  more  than 
to  heal  the  sick. 

The  next  time  he  was  in  Ca-per-na-um,  such 
a  crowd  came  to  see  him  that  they  could  not  all 
get  in  the  house  where  he  was.  A  poor,  sick 
man,  who  could  not  walk,  was  brought  on  his 
couch  by  his  friends,  and  as  there  was  no  room 
for  them  to  get  through  the  door,  they  took  the 
couch  to  the  top  of  the  house  and  let  it  down 
through  the  roof.  When  Je-sus  saw  their  faith, 
he  said  to  the  sick  man,  Thou  art  freed  from  thy 
sins. 

Some  of  the  scribes  were  not  pleased  wnen 
they  heard  this ;  they  thought  none  but  God 
could  cure  a  man  of  sin,  and  that  Je-sus  had  no 
right  to  say  he  could  do  it.     As  Je-sus  could  read 


A    CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  35 

all  hearts,  he  knew  what  these  scribes  thought, 
so  he  told  them  he  could  make  this  man  free 
from  sin  just  as  well  as  he  could  make  him  walk. 
He  knew  they  could  not  see  that  the  man's  sins 
were  gone,  but  they  could  see  him  walk ;  so  he 
showed  them  a  sign  that  they  could  see  that  they 
might  have  faith  in  one  that  they  could  not  see. 
So  he  turns  to  the  sick  man  (who  still  lies  on  his 
bed  with  no  more  use  of  his  limbs  than  if  they 
had  been  cut  off),  and  says,  Rise,  take  up  thy 
couch  and  go  to  thine  house.  The  man  did  as 
he  was  bid,  and  when  the  scribes  saw  him  walk 
off  with  his  bed,  they  gave  praise  to  God  and 
said,  We  have  seen  strange  things  this  day. 

Je-sus  went  once  more  to  the  lake ;  and  in 
his  walk  he  saw  a  man  named  Mat-thew,  and 
said  to  him,  Come  with  me.  And  he  left  his 
place  and  his  work  to  go  to  Je-sus :  he  stayed 
with  him  all  the  time,  and  did  much  to  spread 
the  new  faith  and  to  serve  the  Lord.  It  was  he 
who  wrote  the  Life  of  Christ  which  goes  by  his 
name, 


CHAPTER  IV. 

JAI-RUS'  DAUGH-TER  RAISED  FROM  THE  DEAD— 
THE  WOM-AN  HEALED  WHO  TOUCHED  THE 
HEM  OF  JE-SUS'  ROBE — OF  TWO  BLIND  MEN — 
OF  A  DUMB  MAN — OF  A  MAN  AT  THE  POOL  OF 
BE-THES-DA — THE     TWELVE      A-POS-TLES — 

THE    SER-MON  ON  THE  MOUNT THE    SON  OF 

THE  WID-OW  OF  NAIN  RAISED  FROM  THE 
DEAD — A  WOM-AN  WASHES  JE-SUS'  FEET 
WITH    HER    TEARS. 

WHEN  Je-sus  got  back  to  his  own  shore 
once  more,  he  found  a  great  throng 
who  were  on  the  watch  for  him,  and 
while  he  spoke  to  them,  a  man  made  his  way- 
through  the  crowd,  and  knelt  at  his  feet.  All 
knew  him,  for  it  is  Jai-rus,  who  rules  a  church 
in  Ca-per-na-um,  and  is  much  thought  of  in 
the  town.  He  begs  Je-sus  to  go  home  with 
him,  where  his  one  dear  child,  a  girl  twelve 
years  old,  lies  at  the  point  of  death.  I  pray 
thee  come  and  lay  thy  hands  on  her  head,  and 
she  shall  live!   he  says,  in  his  strong  faith. 

Je-sus  rose  at  once  and  went  with  him.     The 

srowd  go,  too,  and  more  and  more  join   them  as 
3G 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST.  37 

they  go  on.  In  the  midst  of  them  is  a  poor 
wom-an  who  has  been  sick  for  twelve  long 
years.  She  has  spent  all  she  had  on  men  of 
skill  who  thought  they  could  cure  her,  but  all  in 
vain ;  she  grew  worse  and  worse.  She  lost  all 
hope  of  help,  but  now  she  hears  of  Je-sus,  and 
the  great  cures  he  has  wrought,  and  is  sure  if 
she  can  but  touch  the  fringe  on  his  robe,  it  will 
make  her  well.  She  does  not  wish  that  he 
should  see  her,  so  she  creeps  up  and  puts  out  her 
hand  that  she  may  touch  and  fly.  The  touch 
makes  her  well !  and  with  a  heart  full  of  joy  she 
gives  way  to  the  crowd,  and  thinks  no  one  knows 
what  great  thing  has  been  done  to  her.  But  at 
once  Je-sus  turns  on  the  crowd,  and  asks  whose 
touch  it  was  that  he  had  felt.  Pe-ter  said,  How 
can  you  ask  whose  touch  it  was  when  there  is 
such  a  throng  on  all  sides  ? 

But  Je-sus  says  that  the  touch  of  faith  had 
been  felt  by  him,  and  a  cure  had  been  wrought  in 
the  crowd.  He  does  not  ask  for  his  own  sake 
for  he  knows  right  well  who  it  was,  but  he  wants 
to  do  still  more  for  her,  and  make  her  faith  firm 
as  a  rock.  His  eye  finds  her  in  all  the  crowd, 
and  she  who  yet  so  thrills  with  what  has  been 


38  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

done  in  her,  sees  that  she  can  not  be  hid,  and 
falls  down  at  his  feet,  and  tells  him  and  the  crowd 
the  whole  tale.  Je-sus  spoke  to  her  in  kind  tones, 
and  said,  My  child,  be  of  good  cheer,  thy  faith 
hath  made  thee  whole ;   go  in  peace. 

But  this  scene,  brief  as  it  was,  kept  back 
Je-sus  on  his  way  to  the  sick  child,  and  while  he 
yet  talks  with  her  who  yet  kneels  at  his  feet,  the 
sad  news  came  to  Jai-rus.  It  is  of  no  use  to 
seek  help,  thy  child  is  dead.  This  was  a  great 
shock  to  poor  Jai-rus,  but  Je-sus  is  at  hand  to 
hold  him  up.  Fear  not,  Je-sus  says  to  him,  If 
you  have  but  faith,  she  shall  be  made  whole.  So 
they  press  on  to  the  house,  where  they  find  a 
large  throng. 

Je-sus  would  let  none  of  the  crowd  go  in 
with  him  but  Pe-ter,  and  James,  and  John,  and 
said  to  those  who  wept  and  waited  for  the  dead 
girl,  Give  place  !  the  maid  is  not  dead,  but  sleeps. 
The  tears  of  the  folks  changed  to  a  laugh  of  scorn 
at  these  words,  for  they  know  that  she  is  dead. 
But  Je-sus  goes  in  to  the  room  of  death  with  Jai- 
rus  and  his  wife,  and  his  own  three  friends,  and 
takes  hold  of  the  girl's  hand  and  bids  her  rise  up. 
His  words  pierced  the  dull  car  of  death,  his  touch 


JAI-RUS'  CHILD  IS  BROUGHT  TO  LIFE 


39 


40  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

brought  a  thrill  of  life,  the  soul  came  back,  and 
the  maid  rose  up  as  if  from  a  deep  sleep — and 
Je-sus  bids  them  give  her  food. 

As  soon  as  Je-sus  had  left  the  house  of  Jai-rus, 
two  blind  men  heard  that  he  was  near,  and  made 
their  way  to  his  house  with  him.  As  they  went 
through  the  streets  they  cried,  Thou  Son  of  Da- 
vid help  us!  But  Je-sus  did  not  heal  them  till 
he  got  home.  Then  he  said  to  them,  Have  you 
faith  that  I  can  do  this  for  you  ?  and  they  said, 
Yes,  Lord.  Then  he  laid  his  hand  on  their  eyes 
and  said,  As  is  your  faith,  so  be  it  to  you.  We 
know  how  great  their  faith  must  have  been,  for 
their  blind  eyes  saw  once  more,  and  though 
Je-sus  bade  them  tell  no  one,  they  went  and 
spread  the  fame  of  him  who  gave  them    sight. 

The  blind  men  were  but  gone,  when  a  new 
group  of  friends  came  to  his  door  for  aid.  They 
have  with  them  a  man  who  is  in  a  sad  state.  He 
has  a  fiend  in  him,  and  is  dumb.  Je-sus  does  not 
ask  for  faith  in  this  poor  soul,  but  heals  him  for 
the  sake  of  those  whose  faith  has  brought  him 
there.  He  casts  out  the  fiend,  and  the  dumb 
man  speaks.  Of  course  he,  too,  used  his  voice 
to  speak  the  praise  of  him  who  gave  him  the  gift 


THE  BLIND  MEN  CURED. 


41 


42  A    CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

of  speech,  and  so  the  fame  of  Je-sus  spread  day 
by  day.  But  the  Phar-i-sees,  who  did  not  like 
to  hear  his  praise,  said  that  he  cast  out  fiends 
through  the  help  of  the  prince  of  fiends. 

The  Phar-i-sees  were  rich  and  proud  and 
vain,  and  wished  all  men  to  praise  them  and 
speak  well  of  them;  so  they  used  to  fast  two 
days  a  week,  and  would  pray  in  the  streets 
where  folks  could  see  them.  They  went  to 
church  and  gave  alms  and  did  all  that  the  law 
said  men  must  do;  but  their  hearts  were  cold 
and  hard,  and  they  did  not  love  the  Lord.  They' 
drew  near  to  him  with  their  lips,  but  their  hearts 
were  far  from  him.  They  had  fine  homes,  wore 
good  clothes,  gave  grand  feasts,  and  liked  to 
make  a  show  in  the  world.  As  Je-sus  was  poor 
and  meek,  they  did  not  like  him  and  would  have 
naught  to  do  with  him;  but  they  feared  him  and 
did  all  they  could  to  make  folks  think  he  was  a 
bad  man  and  did  not  speak  the  truth. 

In  Je-ru-sa-lem  there  was  a  place  called  the 
sheep  gate,  and  near  this  gate  was  the  pool  of 
Be-thes-da,  which  means  House  of  Mer-cy, 
where  the  sick  and  the  blind  and  the  lame  used 
to  lie  and  wait  for  the  wa-ter  to  be  moved.     At 


JE-SUS  OF-FENDS  THE  PHAR-I-SEES 


43 


44 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 


times  an  an-gel  went  down  and  stirred  up  the 
wa-ter,  and  then  the  one  who  stepped  in  it  first, 
ere  it  grew  smooth  once  more,  was  cured  of  his 
ills.  One  day  Je-sus  was  at  this  pool  and  saw 
there  a  man,  who  had  been  lame,  near  two  score 
years.  He  said  to  him,  Wilt  thou  be  made 
whole?  And  the  man  said,  Sir,  I  have  no  one 
to  put  me  in  when  the  wa-ter  is  rough;  while  I 
am  on  the  way,  some  one  else  steps  in  and  I  am 
too  late.  Then  Je-sus  said,  Rise,  take  up  thy 
bed,  and  walk,  and  the  man  felt  strength  come  to 
his  weak  limbs.  He  rose,  took  up  his  couch, 
and  walked  off;  but  as  it  was  the  Lord's  day,  the 
Phar-i-sees  were  shocked,  and  said  to  him,  It  is 
a  sin  for  thee  to  bear  thy  bed  on  the  Lord's  day. 
But  he  told  them  the  man  who  cured  him,  bade 
him  do  it.  At  first  they  did  not  know  who  had 
healed  him,  but  when  they  found  out  it  was 
Je-sus,  their  rage  was  great,  and  they  sought  to 
slay  him,  for  that  he  had  done  this  thing  on  the 
Sab-bath  day.  Je-sus  told  them  how  wrong  it 
was  for  them  to  judge  the  Son  of  God,  but  they 
would  not  heed  his  words,  nor  cease  to  find  fault 
with  him  for  all  that  he  did,  and  all  that  he  did 
not  do,     Once,   on   the    Lord's   day,   as   Je-sus 


A    CHILD'S   LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 


45 


walked  through  the  corn  field,  with  his  dis-ci- 
pies,  they  plucked  some  ears  of  corn,  and  rubbed 
off  the  grains  and  ate  them.  The  Phar-i-sees 
said  this  was  a  sin,  for  it  was  work,  and  no  work 
should  be  done  on  the  Lord's  day.  But  Je-sus 
told  them  that  he  was  Lord  of  the  Sab-bath,  and 
that  the  Sab-bath  was  made  for  man,  and  not 
man  for  the  Sab-bath. 

In  the  church  where  Je-sus  preached  one 
day,  was  a  man  whose  right  hand  was  so  twisted 
with  pain  he  could  not  stretch  it  out  nor  use  it  at 
all.  The  Phar-i-sees  watched  to  see  what  Je-sus 
would  do,  but  he  knew  their  thoughts,  so  he  said 
to  the  man,  Rise  up  and  stand  where  all  may 
see  you.  Then  he  turned  to  the  Phar-i-sees 
and  said,  I  will  ask  you  one  thing:  Is  is  right  to 
do  good  on  this  day  or  to  do  wrong? — To  save 
life  or  to  kill?  Then  he  bade  the  man  stretch 
forth  his  right  hand,  and  at  once  it  grew  straight 
and  strong  like  the  left  one.  The  Phar-i-sees 
grew  mad  with  rage:  talked  of  how  they  might 
kill  Je-sus;  but  his  hour  was  not  yet  come,  so 
he  moved  from  that  place,  and  went  back  once 
more  to  Gal-i-lee.  Here  crowds  came  to  him 
to  see  the  works  he  did,  and  the  sick  crept  near, 


4G  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

so  that  they  might  touch  him    and    be  healed. 

It  was  in  church  and  on  the  Lord's  day  that 
Je-sus  once  caught  sight  of  a  wom-an  whose 
back  was  bent  so  that  she  could  not  raise  her 
head.  For  near  a  score  of  years  she  had  been 
bowed  down  this  way,  and  when  Je-sus  saw  her 
sad  state  his  heart  was  touched.  He  did  not 
wait  for  her  to  ask  for  help,  but  called  her  to 
him,  laid  his  hands  on  her,  and  healed  her.  Then 
she  stood  up  straight  and  gave  praise  to  God. 
The  chief  man  of  the  church  was  vexed  that 
Je-sus  had  done  this  on  the  Lord's  day.  He 
dared  not  find  fault  with  Je-sus,  but  he  turned  to 
the  folks  in  church  and  said,  There  are  six  days 
in  which  men  ought  to  work;  come  to  be  healed 
on  those  days  and  not  on  this  day.  Je-sus 
turned  to  him  and  said,  Do  you  not  on  the 
Lord's  day  loose  your  ox  or  your  ass  from  the 
stall  and  lead  him  out  to  drink?  And  should 
not  I  on  this  day  loose  this  poor  woman  from 
the  bond  with  which  she  hath  been  bound  all 
these  years?  At  these  words  his  friends  were 
full  of  joy  and,  for  once,  his  foes  felt  a  sense  of 
shame. 

We  are  told   of  one  more  cure  that  Je-sus 


THE  TWISTED  HAND  MADE  STRAIGHT, 


47 


48 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 


wrought  on  the  Lord's  day.  A  Phar-i-see  had 
asked  Je-sus  to  dine  with  him.  There  was  a 
sick  man  in  the  house,  and  the  Phar-i-see  hoped 
that  Jesus  would  cure  him;  not  that  they  cared 
for  the  sick  man  to  be  made  well,  but  that  they 
might  have  a  chance  to  say  that  Je-sus  broke 
the  Lord's  day.  When  Je-sus  saw  how  they 
watched  him,  he  said,  Once  more  I  ask  you,  is  it 
right  to  heal  on  this  day?  But  they  held  their 
peace,  so  he  healed  the  man  and  let  him  go. 
Then  he  said  to  them,  If  one  of  your  sheep 
should  fall  in  a  pit,  would  you  not  lift  it  out  on 
this  day?  And  if  it  is  right  to  do  good  to  a 
sheep,  is  it  not  right  to  do  good  to  a  man?  Still 
they  had  naught  to  say,  and  Je-sus  felt  that  it 
was  of  no  use  to  try  to  touch  their  hard  hearts. 
But  his  own  heart  was  sad  at  the  sight  of  so 
much  woe,  and,  as  he  could  not  be  in  all  parts  of 
the  land  at  once  to  help  and  heal  all  who  might 
wish  his  aid,  he  chose  twelve  of  his  dis-ci-ples, 
and  sent  them  to  teach  and  preach  in  all  the 
towns  of  Is-ra-el. 

An  a-pos-tle  means,  one  sent;    and   Je-sus 
called  these  twelve  men  a-pos-tles,  since  he  sent 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  49 

them  to  tell    good    news  and    do   good   works. 

Their  names   were: 

Si-mon  Pe-ter,  Le-vi  (or  Mat-thew), 

An-drew,  Thom-as, 

James,  James  (2nd), 

John,  Thad-de-US  (or  Leb-be-us), 

Phil-ip,  Si-mon  (2nd), 

Na-than-ael  Ju-das  Is-ca-riot. 

All  of  these  but  Ju-das  were  from  Gal-i-lee. 

Je-sus  said  they  were  to  take  no  gold  with 
them,  and  no  clothes  but  those  they  wore,  for  the 
men  to  whom  they  preached  must  take  care  of 
them,  and  give  them  food  and  drink  and  a  place 
to  sleep.  He  said  they  should  heal  the  sick, 
cleanse  the  lep-ers,  and  cast  out  fiends,  just  as 
they  saw  him  do ;  and  when  they  came  to  a 
house  or  town  on  the  way  they  should  sayj 
Peace  be  to  this  house,  or  this  town  ;  but  if  the 
folks  there  would  not  hear  their  words,  they 
should  do  no  good  works  in  that  place,  but 
should  shake  the  dust  of  it  off  their  feet  and  go 
on  to  the  next  house  or  town. 

He  told  the  twelve  that  they  would  have  a 
hard  time.  That  they  would  be  like  sheep  in  the 
midst  of  wolves,  and  they  must  be  on  their  guard 

♦— Child's  Life  of  Christ,  one  syl. 


50  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

all  the  time.  But  to  cheer  them  he  told  them  that 
God,  who  took  such  care  of  the  least  of  birds, 
that  one  of  them  could  not  fall  to  the  ground  and 
he  not  see  it,  would  care  for  them  who  were  far 
more  dear.  And,  most  of  all,  that  he  would 
count  all  that  was  done  to  them  as  if  it  were  done 
to  him. 

It  came  to  pass  in  those  days  that  Je-sus 
went  up  on  a  high  hill  to  pray,  and  when  he  had 
prayed  all  night  he  came  down  to  the  plain  with 
his  dis-ci-ples.  A  large  crowd  came  to  him  there, 
and  he  preached  what  is  called  the  Ser-mon  on 
the  Mount,  and  said:  Blest  are  the  meek  and 
those  who  grieve  for  their  sins,  for  God  is  with 
them.  Blest  are  those  who  long  to  be  good, 
more  than  they  long  for  food  and  drink.  Blest 
are  those  who  do  not  fuss  and  fight,  and  those 
who  are  kind  to  their  foes,  as  well  as  their  friends. 
He  said,  Bless  them  that  curse  you  ;  do  good  to 
them  that  hate  you  ;  and  pray  for  them  that  do  ill 
to  you.  He  warned  them  that  they  must  not  be 
like  the  scribes  and  Phar-i-sees,  who  prayed  and 
gave  alms  just  to  be  seen  of  men  ;  but  that  they 
must  go  to  their  rooms  to  pray,  and  shut  the 
door  so  that  no  one  could  see  them — and  that 


JE-SUS  AND  THE  CKN-TU-RI-ON. 


51 


62 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 


they  must  not  let  men  know  when  they  gave 
alms,  and  did  good  works.  Then  he  told  them 
of  two  men  who  each  built  a  house.  One  man 
built  his  on  the  sand,  and  when  the  floods  came, 
and  the  winds  blew  and  beat  on  that  house  it  fell, 
and  was  washed  and  swept  out  of  sight.  One 
man  built  on  a  rock,  and,  though  the  wind  and 
rain  beat  on  it  with  all  their  might,  it  did  not  fall, 
for  the  rock  was  so  strong  and  firm  it  could  not 
be  blown  off  like  sand.  Je-sus  said  those  who 
heard  his  words  and  did  not  heed  them  were  like 
the  man  who  built  his  house  on  sand — they  would 
be  lost.  But  those  who  did  as  he  bid  them 
would  be  saved  ;  for  they  were  like  the  wise 
man  who  built  on  a  rock — and  that  rock  was 
Christ. 

When  Je-sus  went  back  to  the  town  it  was 
not  to  rest,  though  he  had  none  for  long  hours. 
There  were  troops  in  the  town,  and  at  the  head 
of  them  was  a  man  who,  though  not  a  Jew,  had 
won  the  love  of  the  Jews.  He  had  made  the 
yoke  of  Rome  as  light  as  he  could,  and  had 
gone  so  far  in  his  good-will  as  to  have  built  a 
church  for  the  Jews  of  the  town. 

Now  this  man  had  a  slave   who   was  most 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST.  53 

dear  to  him,  and  who  lay  at  the  point  of  death, 
He  had  heard  of  Je-sus  and  the  cures  he  had 
wrought,  and  wants  his  help,  but  he  shows  that 
he  is  a  well  bred  man,  and  has  great  tact  in  the 
way  he  takes  to  send  for  Je-sus.  He  does  not 
send  a  slave  from  his  house,  nor  some  of  the 
five  score  men  in  his  troop.  He  asks  some  of 
the  chief  Jews  (whom  he  had  made  his  friends 
when  he  built  their  church)  to  go  for  him  and 
beg  Je-sus  to  come  to  his  aid.  These  Jews  plead 
the  case  so  well  that  Je-sus  goes  with  them. 

When  the  group  had  got  near  the  house,  he 
at  whose  call  Je-sus  had  come,  sent  friends  to 
meet  him,  and  say,  Lord,  do  not  take  so  much 
pains  for  me  !  I  am  not  fit  that  thou  shouldst 
come  to  my  house.  I  did  not  dare  to  go  and 
ask  thee  to  do  this  great  thing  for  me.  But  say 
the  word,  and  I  know  my  slave  shall  live.  As 
I  send  my  men  from  post  to  post,  I  say  to  this 
one,  Go  here,  and  to  that  one,  Go  there,  so  do 
I  know  that  thou  canst  send  life  and  health 
where  thou  wilt. 

When  Je-sus  heard  these  words  he  turned  to 
his  friends  as  well  as  to  the  proud  Jews  and  the 
throng  who  had  come  to  join  them,  and  says,  I 


54  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

say  to  you  all,  that  I  have  not  found  such  great 
faith  as  this;  no,  not  in  Is-ra-el !  I  came  to  teach 
the  chil-dren  of  Is-ra-el,  and  the  Jews  are  mine 
own  peo-ple;  but  they  do  not  trust  me  as  does 
this  poor  Ro-man.  He  told  the  ru-ler  to  go  his 
way,  and  it  would  be  to  him  as  he  wished.  And 
the  slave  was  made  whole  that  same  hour. 

The  next  day  Je-sus  went  to  a  town  called 
Nain.  As  he  drew  near  the  gate  a  sad  sight  met 
his  gaze;  for  a  long  line  of  folks  had  just  come 
from  the  town  on  their  way  to  the  grave  with  the 
corpse  of  a  young  man  whose  moth-er  was  a 
wid-ow  and  had  no  son  but  him.  Her  grief  was 
great,  but  Je-sus  soon  changed  it  to  joy.  He 
told  her  not  to  weep;  and  when  they  that  bore 
the  bier  stood  still,  he  touched  it,  and  bade  the 
young  man  rise.  At  these  words  life  comes 
back  to  him  that  was  dead,  love  to  his  heart,  and 
words  come  to  his  lips.  He  sits  upon  the  bier 
and  speaks,  and  Je-sus  gives  the  son  back  to 
the  arms  of  her  who  thought  she  had  held  him 
there  for  the  last  time. 

This  is  the  first  time  that  Je-sus  gave  life  to  the 
dead,  and  there  came  a  fear  on  all.  The  crowd 
now  learned   that   he    could    raise  the    dead  as 


WASH-ING  THE  FEET  OF  JE-SUS  WITH  TEARS 


55 


56  A  CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST. 

well  as  heal  the  sick,  and  they  spread  the  great 
news  through  all  the  land. 

A  rich  Phar-i-see  named  Si-mon  asked 
Je-sus  to  dine  with  him.  Je-sus  goes  to  the 
proud  man's  feast  just  as  he  goes  to  a  poor  man's 
house.  It  is  all  one  to  him,  for  he  looks  at  the 
man  and  not  at  his  things.  This  proud  Si-mon 
is  not  a  well  bred  host,  and  does  not  treat  Je-sus 
as  men  in  those  days  were  wont  to  treat  guests 
who  came  to  see  them.  He  did  not  greet  him 
with  a  kiss,  nor  pour  oil  on  his  head,  nor  give 
him  wa-ter  to  wash  his  feet,  as  was  the  cus- 
tom in  that  land. 

Je-sus  takes  his  seat  at  the  board.  They  did 
not  sit  on  chairs  when  they  ate,  as  we  do.  They 
half  lay  on  a  couch,  with  the  feet  thrown  back. 
While  Je-sus  sat  at  meat,  there  crept  in  a  wom-an 
who  has  heard  that  he  is  a  guest  there.  She 
stoops  down  by  the  couch,  and  her  tears  flow 
forth  at  the  sight  of  his  pure  face  and  the  thought 
of  her  bad  life.  Her  tears  fall  in  such  floods  that 
she  bathes  the  dust  from  Je-sus'  feet  with  them, 
and  then  wipes  them  with  her  long  hair,  which 
has  been  her  pride;  and  gives  kiss  on  kiss  to 
those  way-worn  feet.     Then  she  takes  a  box  of 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE  OF   CHRIST.  57 

rare  salve  and  pours  it  on  his  feet,  that  she  may 
cool  and  rest  them. 

Si-mon  sees  all  this,  and  said  in  his  heart, 
Je-sus  is  no  seer  ;  or  he  would  shrink  back  from 
the  touch  of  her  who  kneels  at  his  feet,  for  he 
would  know  what  a  bad  life  hers  has  been.  But 
the  voice  of  Je-sus  breaks  on  his  ear.  Si-mon, 
I  have  a  word  for  thee.  Say  on,  says  the  host, 
who  does  not  dream  that  his  heart  has  been  read 
like  a  book  by  him  who  speaks.  There  was  once 
a  man  to  whom  two  men  were  in  debt.  One  man 
owed  a  small  sum  and  one  owed  a  large  sum. 
But  as  they  have  no  means,  the  man  to  whom 
they  were  in  debt  said  he  would  let  them  each 
go  free.  Now  which  of  them  will  feel  the  most 
love  for  the  man  who  has  been  so  kind  to  them  ? 
Si-mon  says,  I  should  think  that  he  who  had 
been  most  in  debt  would  love  him  most. 

You  are  right,  says  Je-sus  to  his  host,  then 
he  turns  to  her  who  weeps  at  his  feet,  and  says, 
Si-mon,  do  you  see  her  who  kneels  here?  I 
came  to  your  house,  but  you  sent  no  one  to  bathe 
the  dust  from  my  feet,  while  she  pours  out  her 
own  tears  to  wash  them,  and  wipes  them  with 
the  hairs  of  her  own  head. 


58  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

When  I  came  in  you  did  not  give  me  the  kiss 
on  the  cheek  with  which  a  host  in  our  land  is 
wont  to  greet  his  guests,  but  she  rains  kiss  on 
kiss  on  my  feet,  and  has  done  so  with  no  pause 
since  I  came  in  !  You  brought  no  oil  for  my 
head,  as  is  the  way  at  our  feasts,  but  she  pours 
out  on  my  feet  her  choice  balm.  For  this  cause 
I  say  to  you,  I  will  blot  out  all  her  sins,  though 
they  are,  as  you  think  them,  and  as  she  thinks 
them,  not  few  ;  for  she  loves  much.  But  he  who 
thinks  he  does  not  owe  much  will  not  feel  much 
love  to  him  who  frees  him  from  the  debt.  Then, 
with  a  look  full  of  love  on  the  poor  soul  at  his 
feet,  he  said,  I  blot  out  thy  sins  ;  thy  faith  saves 
thee  ;  go  in  peace. 

Of  course,  Si-mon  and  those  who  sat  at  meat 
with  him  were  shocked  at  these  words,  and  would 
not  own  that  Je-sus  had  a  right  so  to  speak  them, 
though  he  had  told  them  he  was  the  Son  of  God. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    PAR-A-BLES    OF    OUR    LORD — OF    THE    RICH 

MAN — OF     THE     SOW-ER — OF     THE     TARES 

OF  THE  NET — OF  THE  MUS-TARD  SEED — 
OF  THE  YEAST — OF  THE  MAN  WHO  FOUND 
A    PRIZE — OF    THE    PEARL. 

APAR-A-BLE  is  a  short  tale  that  means  more 
than  it  says,  and  Je-sus  was  wont  to  make 
use  of  such  tales  to  teach  some  great  truth 
to  his  dis-ci-ples  and  the  folks  who  came  to  hear 
him  day  by  day.  He  would  not  say  just  what  he 
meant,  but  would  tell  a  par-a-ble  and  then  leave 
thepeo-ple  to  find  out  the  point  of  it.  Of  course 
they  had  to  think  a  great  deal,  and  all  this 
thought  served  to  fix  Christ's  words  in  their 
minds  and  make  them  stay  there.  In  this  way 
they  learn  more  than  they  would  have  done  if 
Je-sus  had  not  told  the  truth  in  tales. 

.  To  show  how  wrong  it  is  to  put  one's  trust  in 
wealth,  he  told  them  this  tale :  There  was  a  rich 
man  whose  land  brought  forth  more  fruit  than 
he  knew  what  to  do  with.  His  barns  were  too 
small  to  hold  it  all,  so  he  said,  This  will  I  do: 
I  will  pull  down  my  barns  and  build   some  new 

59 


60  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

large  ones,  in  which  I  will  put  all  my  fruits  and 
my  goods.  And  I  will  say  to  my  soul :  Soul, 
thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for  long  years  to 
come  ;  take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink,  and  be  gay. 
But  God  said  to  him :  Thou  fool,  this  night 
thou  shalt  die ;  then  whose  shall  those  things  be 
which  thou  hast  laid  up  ? 

Now  this  tale  was  meant  to  teach  that  as  it 
was  with  the  rich  man,  so  would  it  be  with  all 
those  who  cared  more  for  wealth  than  to  please 
God.  Some  day  death  would  come  for  them, 
and  then  they  would  have  to  leave  their  gold  and 
their  goods  for  some  one  else — for  as  they 
brought  naught  with  them  when  they  came  to 
this  world  so  they  could  take  naught  with  them 
when  they  had  to  leave  it. 

The  dis-ci-ples  were  poor  men,  but  Je-sus  told 
them  that  God  would  take  care  of  them  and  not 
let  them  lack  for  food  or  clothes.  Think  of  the 
birds,  he  said;  they  do  not  sow  nor  reap  nor  lay 
up  grain  in  barns,  but  still  they  do  not  starve,  for 
God  feeds  them.  And  hence  God  would  be  sure 
to  take  care  of  them.  Look  at  the  lil-ies,  too; 
they  do  not  sew  nor  spin  nor  make  their  own 
clothes.     But    God    gives    them   robes   that  arc 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  61 

bright-er  than  were  those  of  the  great  king 
Sol-o-mon.  If  God  then  cared  for  these  things, 
how  much  more  would  he  care  for  them.  They 
were  to  seek  the  king-dom  of  God,  and  all  things 
needed  would  be  given  to  them. 

One  day  while  Je-sus  walked  by  the  sea  shore 
such  crowds  came  to  him  that  he  sat  in  a  boat  on 
the  sea  and  taught  them  as  they  stood  on  the 
beach.  He  spake  to  them  the  par-a-ble  of  the 
sower.  A  man  went  out  to  sow  seeds,  and  it 
came  to  pass,  as  he  sowed,  some  seeds  fell  by  the 
side  of  the  way  and  the  fowls  of  the  air  came  and 
ate  them.  Some  fell  on  rocks,  where  there  was 
not  much  earth,  and  they  sprang  up  at  once;  but, 
as  they  did  not  have  much  root,  they  dried  up  as 
the  sun  shone  on  them.  Some  fell  where  there 
were  thorns,  and  the  thorns  grew  up  and  choked 
them,  so  that  they  brought  forth  no  fruit.  And 
some  fell  on  good  ground,  and  grew  fast  and 
bore  a  great  deal  of  fruit. 

When  the  crowd  had  gone  home  thedis-ci-ples 
said  to  Je-sus:  What  does  this  tale  mean  ?  Then 
he  told  them  that  the  seeds  were  the  words  that 
he  spake  to  them,  the  words  of  God,  and  that 
by  the  man  who  sowed  the  seeds  he  meant  all 


62  A    CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

those  who  teach  or  preach  the  word  of  God.  The 
seed  that  fell  by  the  side  of  the  way  were  those 
that  fell  on  the  hard  path  that  ran  round  or 
through  the  field.  This  hard  path,  that  had  not 
been  ploughed  nor  dug  up,  was  not  a  good  place 
for  seed  to  take  root;  nor  was  a  hard  heart,  that 
had  not  learned  to  love  God  or  man,  a  good  place 
for  the  words  of  God  to  take  root.  For  Sa-tan 
could  pick  the  word  out  of  a  hard  heart  with  as 
much  ease  as  birds  could  pick  seed  off  of  a  hard 
path.  The  seeds  that  fell  on  rocks  were  like  folks 
who  heard  God's  words  with  joy  and  at  first  were 
glad  to  heed  them.  But  their  hearts — though 
not  hard — had  not  much  depth,  and  as  soon  as 
they  were  called  on  to  do  some  hard  thing  they 
quit  their  good  works  and  had  no  more  life  in 
them  than  had  the  seeds  that  dried  up  when  the 
sun  shone  on  them.  The  seeds  that  were  choked 
by  the  thorns  fell  on  ground  that  had  been  dug 
up  but  not  well  cleaned,  for  the  thorns  were  still 
there  and  their  roots  sapped  the  soil.  So  the 
plants  which  sprang  up  were  not  as  strong  as 
they  would  have  been  if  the  thorns  had  not  been 
there  to  choke  or  starve  them;  they  grew,  but 
were  too  weak  to   bring  forth   fruit.      As  light 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  63 

and  air  and  sap  were  drawn  off  from  the  seed 
that  fell  a  prey  to  thorns,  so  will  the  words  and 
truths  of  God  be  drawn  off  from  the  hearts  of 
those  who  fall  a  prey  to  the  cares  and  joys  of 
the  world.  They  will  bring  forth  no  fruit,  for 
the  good  things  of  this  life  will  so  starve  their 
souls  that  they  will  have  no  time  nor  love  for 
good  works.  The  seed  that  fell  on  good  ground, 
that  is  on  ground  that  had  been  well  ploughed 
and  made  soft  and  light  and  clean,  brought  forth 
much  fruit ;  and  so  will  it  be  with  those  whose 
hearts  have  been  stirred  to  their  depths  by  love 
and  zeal.  They  will  be  full  of  good  works;  for 
they  will  take  the  words  of  truth  and  keep  them 
and  live  them,  and  will  bring  forth  much  fruit — 
to  the  praise  of  God. 

Then  Je-sus  told  the  tale  of  a  man  who 
sowed  good  seed  in  his  field;  but  while  he  slept 
one  of  his  foes  came  and  sowed  tares  with  the 
wheat,  and  then  went  off  and  let  no  one  know 
what  he  had  done.  But  when  the  wheat  sprang 
up  the  tares  came,  too,  and  then  the  men  who 
worked  the  field  went  to  the  man  who  owned 
it  and  said,  Sir,  didst  thou  not  sow  good  seed 
in  thv  field?     Whence,  then,  hath  it  tares?     He 


64  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

said,  Some  foe  hath  done  this;  and  the  men 
asked  if  they  should  pull  up  the  tares.  But 
he  said,  Nay,  lest  while  ye  pull  up  the  tares,  ye 
root  up  the  wheat,  too.  Let  both  stay  in  the 
field  till  they  are  ripe  and  then  I  will  bid  the 
men  who  reap,  pull  up  the  tares  to  burn  ere 
they  store  the  wheat  in  the  barn.  When  his 
dis-ci-ples  asked  him  to  make  this  clear  to  them, 
he  said:  The  field  is  the  world  and  I  am  the 
man  who  sowed  the  good  seed.  The  wheat 
means  those  who  love  and  serve  the  Lord,  and 
the  tares  those  who  do  not  love  him  and  will 
not  keep  his  laws.  The  foe  who  came  by  night 
is  Sa-tan.  The  time  when  the  wheat  and  tares 
are  ripe  means  the  end  of  the  world,  and  the 
men  who  reap  are  the  an-gels.  As  wheat  and 
tares  both  grew  in  the  same  field  till  it  was 
time  to  reap  them,  so  good  and  bad  men  must 
live  in  the  same  world  till  it  is  time  for  them 
to  die;  and  then  God  will  send  his  an-gels  to 
bear  them  to  him,  that  he  may  judge  them. 

To  make  them  bear  these  words  in  mind, 
Je-sus  went  on  to  tell  of  a  thing  that  taught 
the  same  truth  they  had  just  learned  in  the  tale 
of  the  wheat  and  tares.      He  said  some  men  cast 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  65 

a  net  in  the  sea  to  catch  good  fish,  but  when 
they  drew  it  to  land  it  was  full  of  all  sorts — 
both  good  and  bad.  They  sat  down  and  took 
out  the  good  fish  to  keep,  but  would  not  have 
the  bad  ones.  Just  as  there  were  all  sorts  of 
fish  in  the  net,  so  may  there  be  all  sorts  of  men 
in  the  church;  but  at  the  last  day  an-gels  will 
come  and  take  the  good  ones  to  live  with  God, 
and  will    leave  the   bad   ones    to   their  fate. 

Two  more  tales  that  Je-sus  told  that  day  were 
meant  to  show  how  the  love  of  God  grows  in  the 
heart.  First  he  spoke  of  a  man  who  sowed  a 
mus-tard  seed  and  it  grew  to  be  so  large  that  the 
birds  came  and  lodged  in  the  boughs  of  it.  Just 
as  this  small  seed  took  root  and  pushed  its  way 
up,  bit  by  bit,  till  it  grew  to  be  a  tree  in  which 
birds  found  peace  and  rest,  so  would  a  small  seed 
of  faith  take  root  in  the  heart  of  a  man,  if  he 
would  but  watch  and  tend  it,  and  would  grow  till 
it  grew  to  be  the  tree  of  life  in  which  he  might 
find  rest  and  peace  for  his  soul.  Then  he  spoke 
of  a  cake  of  yeast  that  was  put  in  some  meal 
and  left  there  to  see  what  it  would  do.  It  went 
to  work  at  once  and,  though  it  made  no  fuss, 
soon  worked  its  way  all  through  the  flour  and 

5— Child's  Life  of  Chris!,  one  syl. 


OG 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 


made  it  light  and  sweet.  And  what  yeast  does 
for  flour  the  grace  of  God  will  do  for  our  hearts 
if  we  but  give  it  room;  as  yeast  makes  bread 
swell  and  rise,  so  does  God's  grace  make  our 
hearts  swell  with  joy,  and  rise  with  love  and 
praise  to  him. 

Still  two  more  tales,  the  last  that  Je-sus  made 
use  of  at  that  time,  were  to  teach  the  great  worth 
of  the  things  of  God.  The  first  was  of  a  man 
who  found  a  rich  prize  (it  may  have  been  a  large 
lump  of  gold)  hid  in  a  field,  and  so  great  was  his 
joy  at  this  good  luck  that  he  went  off  in  haste 
and  sold  all  that  he  had  to  raise  funds  to  buy  the 
field.  For  the  sake  of  the  prize  he  gave  all  his 
goods;  and  in  the  same  way  should  men  joy  to 
give  up  all  they  have  for  the  sake  of  Je-sus.  He 
is  the  best  prize,  and  those  who  win  him  can  not 
be  poor,  though  they  should  have  naught  else. 
The  next  told  of  a  man  who  won  a  great  prize. 
He  was  a  man  who  dealt  in  pearls.  His  work 
was  to  buy  and  sell  these  gems,  and  one  day,  in 
the  way  of  trade,  he  saw  a  fine  large  pearl  that 
he  knew  was  worth  much  more  than  the  rest. 
He  felt  that  he  would  like  this  pearl  more  than 
aught  else  in  the  world,  and  he  did  not  rest  till  it 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST. 


67 


was  his,  though  he  had  to  sell  all  he  had  to  raise 
the  large  sum  it  took  to  buy  this  choice  gem. 
Je-sus  is  the  pearl  of  great  price,  and  men  may 
well  be  glad  to  part  with  all  the  world  calls  rich 
and  great  if  they  may  but  win  so  fair  a  prize  as 
the  love  of  Je-sus. 

At  this  time  a  man  came  to  Je-sus  and  said: 
Lord,  I  would  like  to  stay  with  you  all  the  time, 
to  go  where  you  go,  and  to  live  in  your  home. 
Je-sus  told  him  he  had  no  home;  that  the  beasts 
and  birds  had  holes  and  nests  to  live  in,  but  the 
Son  of  Man  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

je-sus  stills  the  storm — heals  the  man 
with  the  fiends death  of  john  the  bap- 
tist  feeds    the    vast    throng — stills 

the  waves  once  more — heals  the  greek 
wom-an's  child. 

THAT    same  day  when  Je-sus  had  made  an 
end  of  all  the  par-a-bles,  he  went  on  the 
sea  of  Gal-i-lee  with  his  dis-ci-ples,  and  as 
he  was  tired  he  lay  down  in  the  back  part  of  the 
boat  and  went  to  sleep.     While  he  slept  a  great 


68  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

storm  came  up.  The  boat  rocked  and  tossed  and 
the  waves  swept  over  it  so  that  the  dis-ci-ples 
shook  with  fear.  They  waked  Je-sus  and  said: 
Lord,  save  us  or  we  shall  be  drowned.  Then 
Je-sus  rose  and  calmed  the  wind  and  waves. 
He  just  said,  Peace,  be  still !  and  at  once  the 
wind  ceased  and  the  waves  went  down.  Then 
he  said  to  the  dis-ci-ples,  Why  do  ye  fear? 
How  is  it  that  ye  have  no  faith  ?  But  their  fear 
grew  more  and  more  and  they  said,  what  sort  oi 
a  man  is  this,  that  the  wind  and  the  sea  do  as 
he  bids  them  ? 

As  soon  as  the  storm  had  been  stilled  they 
sailed  to  land,  and  when  Je-sus  stepped  on  shore, 
a  man  who  had  fiends  came  to  meet  him.  He  was 
such  a  fierce  man  that  no  one  dared  go  near  him. 
More  than  once  his  friends  had  bound  him  with 
chains  to  keep  him  at  home;  but  that  did  no 
good,  for  he  broke  the  chains  and  ran  off  and  hid 
in  caves  that  had  been  dug  in  the  sides  of  the 
hills  for  tombs.  There  he  would  stay  day  and 
night  and  would  cry  out  loud,  and  cut  his  flesh 
with  stones.  He  would  tear  off  his  clothes,  too, 
and  no  one  could  do  a  thing  to  help  him  or  make 
him  less  like  a  wild   beast.     But  when  he  saw 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE  OF    CHRIST.  69 

Je-sus  he  ran  to  him,  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 
What  have  I  to  do  with  thee,  Je-sus,  thou  Son  of 
the  most  high  God  ?  I  pray  thee  not  to  hurt  me. 
Then  Je-sus  bade  the  fiends  (for  there  was  more 
than  one  of  them)  come  out  of  this  poor  man. 
A  large  herd  of  swine  fed  on  a  high  hill  near  by, 
and  when  the  fiends  found  they  must  come  out  of 
the  man  they  begged  that  Je-sus  would  let  them 
go  in  the  swine.  He  said  they  might  do  so,  and 
as  soon  as  the  herd  felt  the  fiends  in  them  they 
rushed  down  the  side  of  the  steep  hill  and  were 
drowned  in  the  sea.  Then  the  men  who  took 
care  of  the  swine  ran  to  the  town  and  told  all 
that  they  had  seen  Je-sus  do;  and  the  folks  went 
out  and  begged  him  to  leave  their  coasts.  When 
they  saw  the  fierce,  wild  man  clothed  and  in  his 
right  mind,  and  when  they  heard  of  the  fate  of  the 
swine  they  feared  to  have  Je-sus  stay  in  their 
land. 

The  man  out  of  whom  the  fiends  had  been 
cast  was  so  full  of  love  and  thanks  to  Je-sus  that 
he  begged  to  stay  with  him  all  the  time.  But 
Je-sus  knew  it  was  best  for  him  to  be  with  his 
own  folks,  so  he  said,  Go  home  to  thy  friends 
and  tell  them  what  great  things  the  Lord  hath 


70  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRiST. 

done  for  thee.  The  man  did  as  he  was  bid  and 
soon  the  whole  town  knew  and  spoke  of  the 
strange  tale. 

At  this  time  He-rod  (a  son  of  the  He-rod  who 
slew  the  babes  in  Bethlehem)  heard  of  the  fame 
of  Je-sus  and  said,  This  is  John  the  Bap-tist,  he 
has  come  back  from  the  dead  to  do  these  great 
works.  To  please  He-ro-dias,  whom  he  loved, 
He-rod  had  sent  forth  and  laid  hold  on  John  and 
bound  him  and  put  him  in  jail.  He-ro-dias  had 
been  the  wife  of  a  man  named  Phil-ip,  but  she  left 
him  and  went  to  be  He-rod's  wife.  John  said 
this  was  a  sin,  so  He-rod  put  John  in  jail  and  left 
him  there  a  long  time.  On  his  birthday  the  king 
gave  a  great  feast  to  his  lords,  Salo-me  (the 
daughter  of  He-ro-dias)  came  in  and  danced  for 
them,  and  He-rod,  who  was  drunk  with  wine, 
was  so  much  pleased  with  her  that  he  said,  Ask 
of  me  what  thou  wilt  and  I  will  give  it  thee.  He 
swore  that  she  should  have  what  she  chose,  were 
it  the  half  of  his  king-dom.  Then  Salo-me  went 
and  said  to  her  mother,  What  shall  I  ask  of  the 
king?  The  mother,  whose  heart  was  full  of  hate 
for  the  Bap-tist,  bade  her  ask  He-rod  to  cut  off 
the  head  of  John  and  give  it  to  her  in  a  large  dish. 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  71 

So  the  girl  went  back  in  haste  and  said  to  the 
king,  I  will  that  thou  give  to  me  here  in  a  dish, 
the  head  of  John  the  Bap-tist. 

Now  He-rod  did  not  wish  to  kill  John,  for  he 
knew  he  was  a  good  man  and  had  done  no 
wrong.  He  liked  to  hear  him  preach,  too,  and 
felt  in  his  heart  that  it  was  right  for  him  to  warn 
men  to  turn  from  their  sins;  and  that  he  was  a 
brave  man,  who  feared  not  to  chide  the  king  and 
speak  the  truth  to  him.  He-rod  wished  he  had 
not  made  such  a  rash  vow;  in  spite  of  the  wine, 
he  felt  a  pang  of  grief  that  he  had  -been  caught 
in  such  a  trap,  but  it  was  too  late  to  take  back  his 
word.  He  would  not  break  his  oath,  so  he  sent 
some  men  to  the  jail  to  cut  off  John's  head. 
They  cut  it  off  and  put  it  in  a  large  dish  and 
brought  it  to  Salo-me,  and  she  tripped  off  with 
it  to  He-ro-dias.  When  John's  friends  heard  of 
his  death,  they  came  and  took  up  the  corpse  and 
bore  it  to  the  tomb,  and  then  went  and  told 
Je-sus  the  sad  tale. 

But  He-rod  is  not  at  ease,  the  fumes  of  the 
feast  have  gone  off  and  the  thought  that  he  has 
slain  a  brave  man,  haunts  the  king  like  a  ghost. 
When  he  hears  of  a  young  man  who  goes   from 


72  A  CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

town  to  town  with  signs  and  great  deeds,  he  is 
full  of  fears.  He  says,  It  is  true  that  I  cut  off 
the  head  of  John  the  Bap-tist,  but  who  but  he 
can  this  be  who  can  do  such  things?  This  is 
John  the  Bap-tist  who  has  come  to  life  once 
more.  He  did  not  guess  that  he  was  more  than 
John,  that  he  was  the  Judge  of  John  and  of 
He-rod  and  of  all  the  world,  at  whose  bar  he 
shall  one  day  stand  and  hear  his  doom  from  the 
lips  of  him  whom  he  now  wants  to  see. 

Then  Je-sus  and  the  twelve  a-pos-tles  took  a 
boat  and  crossed  the  sea  of  Gal-i-lee  in  search  of 
a  place  where  they  might  rest  a  short  while  and 
gain  some  strength  for  their  work.  The  crowds 
stayed  with  them  day  and  night,  and  they  could 
scarce  find  time  to  eat  or  sleep.  Nor  did  they 
find  it  now,  for  when  the  folks  saw  them  start 
off  in  the  boat  they  ran  round  the  lake  and  were 
on  hand  to  greet  Je-sus  when  he  stepped  on 
shore.  Tired  as  he  was  he  taught  and  preached, 
and  healed  the  sick  all  clay,  and  when  night  drew 
nigh  the  a-pos-tles  came  to  him  and  said,  The 
day  is  far  spent  and  the  folks  have  naught  to  eat; 
send  them  to  the  towns  near  by  to  get  food,  for 
there   are   no   shops   here   where   they  may  buy 


JE-SUS  FEEDS  THE  MUL-TI-TUDE 


73 


74  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

bread.  But  Je-sus  said,  They  need  not  leave 
this  place;  give  ye  them  to  eat.  The  twelve 
stare  at  him,  and  then  they  beg  to  know  if  they 
are  to  buy  the  loaves  of  bread  which  it  will  take 
to  give  each  one  of  the  vast  throng  the  least  bit 
to  eat.  How  much  bread  have  you?  Go  and 
see.  They  bring  back  word  that  they  had 
naught  but  five  loaves  and  two  small  fish,  and 
there  were  five  thou-sand  men  to  feed.  Now 
there  was  nrjch  grass  in  that  place,  so  Je-sus 
told  them  to  make  the  men  sit  down  on  the  grass 
in  long  rows.  Then  he  took  the  five  loaves  and 
two  small  fish  and  blessed  them  and  broke  them 
in  bits  to  be  handed  to  the  men.  Each  man  had 
as  much  as  he  could  eat,  and  still  the  bread  and 
fish  were  not  all  gone.  Je-sus  told  them  to  save 
all  the  scraps  that  were  left,  as  it  was  wrong  to 
waste  good  food.  So  they  picked  up  twelve 
trays  full  of  scraps,  which  was  more  than  they 
had  to  start  with. 

This  moves  the  crowd  more  than  all  the  signs 
they  have  seen  him  do.  How  grand  it  would  be 
to  have  a  king  who  could  feed  us  all  the  time  like 
this  and  take  care  of  us  !  We  could  lie  on  the 
green    sward    and  hear    him   talk,  and   have  no 


A  CHILD'S   LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  75 

hard  tax  to  pay  to  Rome,  and  no   hard  work   to 
do! 

Such  a  proof  of  the  might  of  Je-sus  made 
them  know  that  he  was  more  than  just  a  mere 
man  ;  more  than  a  seer.  They  felt  sure  he  was 
the  Mes-siah  they  had  so  long  looked  for  and,  as 
they  thought,  this  Mes-siah  was  to  be  a  king, 
they  wished  to  make  Je-sus  their  king  at  once. 
But  he  knew  this  must  not  be;  so  he  bade  his 
dis-ci-ples  set  sail  and  leave  him  there.  Then 
he  sent  the  crowd  off,  too,  and  when  they  were 
all  gone  he  went  up  to  the  top  of  the  high  hill, 
at  whose  foot  he  had  been  at  work  all  day. 
Here  he  could  watch  and  pray ;  could  shed  tears 
(which  no  eye  might  see)  for  the  sad  death  of  his 
friend  John  the  Bap-tist,  and  could — it  may  be — 
get  a  bit  of  rest,  if  not  of  sleep.  It  was  a  clear 
night  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  and  by  the  bright 
light  of  the  moon  Je-sus  could  see  his  dis-ci-ples 
in  their  boat  on  the  lake.  A  sharp  gust  comes 
down  on  the  lake  from  the  hills,  and  they  had 
hard  work  to  reach  the  part  of  the  shore  for 
which  Je-sus  had  bid  them  steer.  For  some 
hours  they  toiled  in  vain,  for,  do  what  they  would, 
they  could  not  keep  the  boat  in  the  right  track. 


76  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

At  last  Je-sus  went  to  their  aid  and,  at  the 
same  time,  gave  them  a  new  proof  of  his  might. 
He  stepped  in  the  sea  and  walked  out  to  the  boat. 
The  waves  leap  and  foam  but  he  glides  on  as  if 
his  feet  trod  a  smooth  green  lawn.  When  they 
saw  him  come  to  them  in  this  strange  way  they 
did  not  know  him,  and  were  filled  with  fear 
But  Je-sus  said,  Be  of  good  cheer;  fear  not;  it 
is  I.  Pe-ter  said,  Lord,  if  it  be  thou,  bid  me 
come  to  thee  on  the  waves.  Je-sus  said,  Come. 
Pe-ter  leaps  down  from  the  ship  and  steps  out 
with  a  brave  air.  But  the  wind  blows,  and  the 
waves  rise  to  meet  him,  and  he  looks  at  them 
and  not  at  Je-sus,  and  so,  of  course,  he  sinks. 
His  faith  is  not  so  strong  as  his  fears.  But  as 
he  sinks  he  cries  to  Je-sus,  Lord,  save  me  !  At 
once  Je-sus  stretched  forth  his  hand  and  caught 
him,  and  said,  Oh  thou  of  small  faith  why  didst 
thou  doubt  ? 

When  Je-sus  and  Pe-ter  were  safe  in  the 
boat  the  wind  ceased,  and  in  a  short  time  they 
were  at  the  place  which  they  had  so  long  tried  in 
vain  to  reach.  Then  they  fell  at  Je-sus'  feet  and 
said,  Of  a  truth  thou  art  the  Son  of  God  ! 

The    folks  on   shore  knew  Je-sus  and   came 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  77 

from  all  parts  of  the  land  to  beg  his  aid.  They 
brought  their  sick  friends  on  beds  and  laid  them 
in  his  path  ;  and  he  healed  them  all.  In  each 
town  through  which  he  passed  the  streets  were 
lined  with  sick  folks,  who  begged  that  they 
might  just  touch  his  robe;  and  all  who  touched 
were  made  well. 

The  men  whom  Je-sus  had  fed  with  the  loaves 
and  fish,  and  then  told  to  leave  him,  went  back 
to  the  same  spot  next  day  ;  for  as  there  was  no 
boat  left  on  the  lake  for  Je-sus  to  sail  off  in  they 
thought  he  would  still  be  there.  But  as  they 
did  not  see  him  they  crossed  the  lake  and  sought 
him  in  Ca-per-na-um  ;  and  when  they  found  him 
they  said,  Lord,  how  didst  thou  get  here,  and 
when  didst  thou  come  ?  They  could  not  tell  how 
he  had  reached  Ca-per-na-um  ere  they  did,  for 
they  had  made  use  of  boats.  They  knew  the  dis- 
ci-pies had  gone  off  and  left  him  with  no  boat ; 
and  that  he  had  not  had  time  to  walk  round  the 
sea  of  Gal-i-lee — from  the  east  side  to  the  west — . 
since  they  last  saw  him. 

Je-sus  did  not  tell  them  by  what  means  he 
had  reached  the  town,  but  he  told  them  he  knew 
why  they  sought  him ;  it  was  not  that  they  had 


78  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

seen  his  signs,  but  that  they  had  been  fed  by 
him — they  came  for  more  bread. 

Then  he  told  them  that  he  was  the  bread  of 
life,  and  that  God  had  sent  him  to  give  life  to  the 
world.  They  asked  him  what  sign  he  could  give 
to  prove  that  God  sent  him.  Je-sus  said  they 
had  seen  him,  not  just  his  face  and  his  form,  but 
his  life  and  his  works,  and  they  ought  to  know 
that  no  one  but  God  could  do  such  things  as  he 
did.  This  was  too  much  for  their  faith ;  they 
could  trust  him  as  their  king,  but  not  as  their 
God.  How  dare  he  say  that  he  is  the  bread  of 
life,  and  came  down  from  on  high,  when  we  know 
so  well  whose  son  he  is.  They  said  he  was  the 
son  of  Jo-seph  and  Ma-ry,  so  he  must  be  a  man; 
as  a  man  he  might  be  a  great  king  or  a  wise  seer, 
but  could  not  be  the  Lord. 

That  day  a  host  of  those  who  had  been  with 
Je-sus  up  to  this  time  went  back  home,  and 
walked  no  more  with  him ;  for  they  thought  he 
made  false  claims  and  they  could  not  trust  his 
word. 

Je-sus  turned  then  to  the  twelve  and  said, 
Will  ye,  too,  leave  me?  Peter  said,  Lord,  to 
whom  shall  we   go?     Thou   hast  the   words  of 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  79 

life,  and  we  know  thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God. 

Then  Je-sus  left  the  land  of  Is-ra-el  and 
came  to  the  coasts  of  Tyre  and  Si-don.  The 
folks  here  were  not  Jews,  but  Je-sus  did  not 
scorn  to  help  them,  when  they  came  to  him, 
though  he  was  a  Jew  and  his  work  was  with  and 
for  the  Jews  first. 

Je-sus  did  not  wish  folks  to  know  he  was 
there,  so  he  went  in  a  house  and  tried  to  keep 
out  of  sight;  but  a  Greek  woman  who  had  heard 
of  him  came  and  begged  him  to  cast  a  fiend  out 
of  her  child.  At  first  Je-sus  pre-tended  not  to  see 
her — as  if  to  say  he  would  have  naught  to  do 
with  those  who  were  not  Jews — but  this  he  did 
just  to  test  her  faith  and  see  what  she  would  do. 
Though  she  was  not  a  Jew  she  knew  that  this 
king  of  the  Jews  could  help  her  if  he  would,  so 
she  fell  at  his  feet  and  begged  with  all  her  heart: 
Lord,  help  me!  Je-sus  said,  It  is  not  meet  to 
take  the  chil-dren's  bread  and  to  cast  it  to  the 
dogs.  She  still  held  on,  and  said,  Truth,  Lord; 
Yet  the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs  which  fell  from 
the  master's  table.  And  she  would  not  rise  till 
Je-sus  said,  Wom-an,  great  is  thy  faith  !  Be  it  to 


SO  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

thee  ds  thou  wilt.  The  fiend  has  gone  out  of  thy 
child!  And  her  child  was  made  whole  at  that 
hour. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  DEAF  AND  DUMB  MAN FEEDS  THE  THRONG 

ONCE  MORE — CURES  THE  MAN  BORN  BLIND 

JE-SUS,  AND  MO-SES,  AND  ELI-AS — JE-SUS 
GOES  UP  TO  JE-RU-SA-LEM — THE  PAR-A-BLE 
OF  THE  GOOD  SA-MAR-I-TAN — AT  THE  HOUSE 
OF  MA-RY  AND  MAR-THA — THE  PAR-A-BLE 
OF  THE  PROD-I-GAL  SON. 

THEN  Je-sus  left  the  coasts  of  Tyre  and 
Si-don  and  went  back  to  the  Sea  of 
Gal-i-lee,  to  the  same  part  of  the  land 
in  which  he  had  once  let  the  fiends  he  cast  out 
of  the  poor  wild  man  get  in  the  herd  of  swine 
and  drive  them  into  the  sea.  At  that  time  the 
folks  there  begged  him  to  leave  their  coasts; 
but  they  now  were  glad  to  have  him  come  back, 
for  they  had  heard  much  of  his  good  works  and 
wished  to  see  some  of  them.  They  brought  to 
him  a  man  who  was  deaf  and  whose  tongue  was 
tied,  so  that  he  could  not  speak  plain. 


P/PEAT   CROWDS    FOL-LOW   JE-SUS. 
6 — Child's  I.if:  ofCAfist,  one  syl. 


81 


82  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

Je-sus  led  him  to  one  side  and  touched  his 
ears  and  his  tongue.  At  once  he  heard  all 
that  was  said  by  the  men  near  him,  and  the 
string  of  his  tongue  was  loosed,  so  that  he  spake 
as  well  as  they  did. 

Je-sus  charged  them  to  tell  no  man,  but  the 
more  he  charged  them  so  much  the  more  they 
spread  the  news,  and  said,  He  hath  done  all 
things  well;  he  hath  made  the  deaf  to  hear 
and  the  dumb  to  speak. 

Great  crowds  came  and  brought  the  sick, 
the  lame,  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  and  the  blind  and 
cast  them  at  the  feet  of  Je-sus  to  be  healed. 
Je-sus  cured  them  all,  and  they  stayed  with  him 
day  and  night,  and  gave  thanks  for  what  he  had 
done  for  them.  When  they  had  been  there 
three  days  and  had  no  food  left,  Je-sus  said  to 
his  dis-ci-ples,  I  must  give  these  men  food  ere  I 
send  them  from  me,  for  some  of  them  came  from 
far  off  and  may  faint  by  the  way  if  they  have 
naught  to  eat  till  they  get  home.  All  the  food 
the  dis-ci-ples  had  was  seven  loaves  and  a  few 
small  fish — and  there  were  four  thous-and  folks 
in  the  throng,  but  Je-sus  made  the  bread  and 
fish  hold  out  to  feed  them   all,  and  there  were 


A  CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST.  83 

seven  trays  full  of  scraps  left.  When  the  meal 
came  to  an  end  Je-sus  sent  the  folks  home,  while 
he  and  his  dis-ci-ples  took  ship  and  came  to 
a  town  called  Mag-da-la.  The  Phar-i-sees  and 
Sad-du-cees  came  to  him  there  and  asked  him  to 
give  them  a  sign  from  God.  They  did  not  ask 
this  with  a  wish  to  learn  or  get  help  from  such  a 
sign,  but  in  the  hope  that  Je-sus  might  say  or  do 
what  would  give  them  a  chance  to  find  fault  with 
him.  Je-sus  knew  that  they  wished  to  set  a  trap 
for  him;  so  he  said  they  should  have  no  sign  but 
the  sign  of  Jo-nah.  By  this  he  meant  to  tell 
them  that  as  Jo-nah  was  in  the  whale  three  days 
so  he  (Je-sus)  would  be  buried  for  three  days  in 
the  earth  ere  he  rose  from  the  dead. 

Je-sus  went  on  to  Beth-sa-ida.  And  they 
brought  a  blind  man  to  him  and  begged  him  to 
touch  him.  And  he  took  the  blind  man  by  the 
hand  and  led  him  out  of  the  town;  and  when 
he  had  spit  on  his  eyes  and  put  his  hands  on  him 
he  asked  him  if  he  saw  aright.  And  he  looked 
up  and  said,  I  see  men  walk,  but  they  look  like 
trees.  Once  more  Je-sus  put  his  hands  on  his 
eyes  and  made  him  look  up,  and  this  time  all 
things   looked   clear   and   plain    to   him.     Then 


84  A   CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST. 

Je-sus  sent  him  to  his  house  and  told  him  not  to 
go  back  to  the  town  nor  tell  it  to  those  on  the 
way. 

Je-sus  now  made  a  trip  to  the  north  with  his 
dis-ci-ples,  and  on  the  way  he  asked  them,  Who 
do  men  say  that  I  am  ?  They  said,  Some  say 
thou  art  John  the  Bap-tist  come  back  from  the 
dead,  and  some  say  one  of  the  old  seers  has 
come  to  earth  once  more.  Then  Je-sus  asked, 
But  whom  do  ye  say  that  I  am  ?  Peter  said, 
Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  By  these 
words  he  meant  to  let  Je-sus  know  that  his  a-pos- 
tles  thought  he  was  the  Sa-vi-our  whom  God  had 
said  He  would  send  to  save  the  world.  But 
though  they  put  their  trust  in  him  they  did  not 
yet  know  how  he  was  to  save  the  world ;  they 
still  thought  of  him  as  a  king  who  would  fight 
for  them,  but  not  as  a  God  who  would  die  for 
them.  They  knew  he  could  do  all  things,  and 
so  they  felt  sure  he  would  soon  change  from  a 
poor  man  to  a  rich  king,  and  would  then  make 
them  the  chief  men  in  his  king-dom. 

Je-sus  thought  it  was  time  for  them  to  get 
rid  of  this  false  view  of  him  and  his  work ;  so 
he  now  told  them  that  the  way  in  which  he  was 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST.  85 

to  save  men  was  to  die  for  them  on  the  cross. 
He  said  he  must  go  to  Je-ru-sa-lem,  and  that 
the  chief  priests  and  scribes  would  cause  him  to 
be  put  to  death  there,  but  on  the  third  day  he 
would  rise  from  the  dead.  And  he  said,  too,  that 
his  throne  was  on  high,  and  that  those  who 
wished  to  share  it  with  him  must  share  his  cross 
on  earth,  too ;  that  is,  they  must  care  less  for 
the  things  of  the  world  than  for  the  things  of 
God;  must  give  up  wealth  and  rank  and  fame 
and  ease — yea,  their  life  if  need  be,  for  Je-sus' 
sake — for  it  would  do  a  man  no  good  to  have  all 
the  fine  things  in  the  world  while  he  lived  if  he 
must  lose  his  soul  when  he  died. 

From  that  day  Je-sus  did  not  cease  to  speak, 
at  times,  of  his  death,  which  was  now  near  at 
hand. 

One  day  he  went  to  the  top  of  a  high  hill  to 
pray.  He  took  Pe-ter  and  James  and  John  with 
him,  and  there  he  let  them  see  him  in  a  new, 
strange  light.  While  he  prayed  his  face  shone  as 
the  sun  and  his  clothes  were  as  white  as  snow— so 
bright  that  they  looked  like  robes  of  light.  All  at 
once  two  men  stood  by  his  side ;  they  were  Mo- 
ses and   Eli-as,  who  died  long  ere  Je-sus  was 


SG  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

born,  and  had  come  back  to  the  world  to  talk  to 
him  of  his  death  which  was  soon  to  take  place. 
The  a-pos-tles  knew  who  these  men  were,  and 
wished  to  stay  up  there  on  the  mount  with  them; 
so  Pe-ter  said,  Lord,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here; 
let  us  make  three  tents — one  for  thee,  one  for 
Mo-ses,  and  one  for  Eli-as.  While  he  yet 
*pake  a  bright  cloud  shone  round  them,  and 
from  this  burst  of  light  they  heard  a  voice  say: 
This  is  my  much  loved  Son;  hear  ye  him.  They 
fell  to  the  ground  in  great  fear ;  but  Je-sus  drew 
near,  touched  them,  and  said,  Rise  and  fear  not. 
They  rose  at  once,  but  when  they  dared  lift  their 
eyes  they  saw  no  one  but  Je-sus,  for  Mo-ses  and 
Eli-as  were  gone.  The  bright  cloud  had 
passed,  too,  and  they  heard  the  voice  no  mere; 
but  they  knew  it  was  sent  to  tell  them  that  the 
Mes-si-ah  of  whom  Mo-ses  and  Eli-as  spoke 
now  stood  at  their  side,  and  that  they  were  to 
hear  and  heed  his  words. 

Je-sus  charged  them  not  to  speak  of  this 
thing  till  he  should  rise  from  the  dead;  so  they 
kept  it  close,  and  told  no  man  in  those  days  of 
what  they  had  seen  and  heard  on  the  mount. 

When   they  came  down   next  day   a  crowd 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  87 

stood  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  and  a  man  came  out 
of  the  crowd,  knelt  at  the  feet  of  Je-sus  and  said, 
I  pray  thee  to  heal  my  son,  for  I  have  no  child 
but  him,  and  he  has  a  fiend  that  makes  him  fall 
in  the  fire,  and  does  his  best  to  kill  him.  As  thou 
wast  not  here  I  brought  the  boy  to  thy  dis-ci-ples 
that  they  might  cast  the  fiend  out  of  him;  but 
they  could  not,  and  I  have  no  hope  left  but  in 
thee.  Je-sus  said,  Bring  him  to  me,  and  as  they 
brought  him  the  fiend  tore  him,  and  he  rolled  on 
the  ground  and  foamed  at  the  mouth.  Je-sus 
asked  the  man,  How  long  has  your  son  been  like 
this?  and  he  said,  Since  he  was  a  child,  for  years 
he  has  had  no  peace  or  rest,  and  I  beg  thee  to 
help  us  if  thou  canst.  Je-sus  said,  I  can  help 
thee  if  thou  canst  have  faith,  but  thou  must  trust 
me  if  thou  dost  wish  me  to  cure  thy  son. 
With  tears  the  poor  man  said,  Lord  I  do  trust 
thee:  I  have  some  faith;  help  thou  my  want  of 
faith.  Then  Je-sus  bade  the  fiend  come  out  of 
the  lad,  and  it  cried  with  a  loud  voice  and  came 
out.  But  it  shook  him  so  hard  and  left  hi.m  so 
sore  and  weak  that  the  folks  thought  he  was 
dead,  till  Je-sus  raised  him  up  and  let  them  see 
that  he  was  well. 


SS  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

Though  Je-sus  had  more  than  once  told  the 
a-pos-tles  in  plain  words  that  he  must  soon  die, 
they  still  clung  to  the  thought  that  when  he  rose 
from  the  dead  he  would  be  a  king  on  earth  and 
would  keep  them  near  his  throne.  One  day  they 
spoke  sharp  words  as  to  which  one  of  them  was 
the  best,  which  one  did  most  good,  which  one 
loved  Je-sus  most,  and  which  one  ought  to  have 
the  best  place  in  his  king-dom.  They  did  not  wish 
Je-sus  to  know  what  they  said,  but  he  read  their 
thoughts,  and  to  shame  them  and  show  them 
their  sin,  he  took  a  child  in  his  arms  and  said, 
Look  at  this  child  and  learn  of  him,  for  he  is  the 
least  of  you  all  and  the  best;  he  is  not  proud  of 
what  he  does,  but  is  meek  and  does  not  try  to 
have  the  chief  place.  Nor  should  you  seek  to 
be  the  first,  but  each  one  of  you  should  try  to 
serve  the  rest.  He  who  is  most  like  this  child 
shall  be  the  first,  and  he  who  is  least  of  all,  the 
same  shall  be  great. 

A  great  feast  of  the  Jews  was  near  at  hand, 
and  some  of  the  chief  priests  and  Phar-i-sees 
formed  a  plot  to  get  hold  of  Je-sus  while  he  was 
at  the  feast.  In  fact,  they  sent  some  men  to  take 
him;    but  when   these   men   saw   Je-sus   in   the 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  gg 

church  and  heard  him  talk  they  were  filled  with 
fear,  and  did  not  try  to  lay  hold  of  him — for  they 
said  no  man  spake  such  words  as  he  spake. 
They  heard  him  say  to  those  in  the  Tem-ple: 
For  a  short  while  I  shall  be  with  you,  and  then 
I  shall  go  back  to  my  Fa-ther  who  sent  me. 
When  I  am  gone  ye  shall  look  for  me  and  shall 
not  find  me;  and  where  I  am  ye  can  not  come, 
for — since  ye  have  no  faith  in  me — ye  shall  die 
in  your  sins.  But  those  who  trust  me  shall  not 
die,  but  shall  live  with  my  Fa-ther. 

Then  they  said:  Who  art  thou,  and  who  is 
thy  Fa-ther?  Is  he  as  great  as  our  fa-ther 
A-bra-ham? 

Je-sus  told  them  that  A-bra-ham  had  had 
faith  in  him,  and  had  wished  to  see  the  day  when 
he  should  come  to  earth,  and  that  by  faith  he  did 
see  it,  though  it  was  then  a  long  way  off.  Then 
they  said  that  could  not  be  true,  that  A-bra-ham 
had  died  long  ere  Je-sus  was  born,  and  so  Je-sus 
could  not  have  seen  him.  But  Je-sus  told  them 
that  though  A-bra-ham  was  an  old  man  when 
he  died  he  was  not  so  old  as  he  (Je-sus)  was,  for 
He  had  lived  with  God  ere  he  came  to  earth  and 
ere  A-bra-ham  was  born. 


90  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

This  made  them  rage,  and  they  took  up 
stones  to  throw  at  him  but,  as  his  hour  was  not 
yet  come,  he  hid  from  them  and  left  the  church, 
going  through  the  midst  of  them.  As  he  went 
on  his  way  he  saw  a  man  who  had  been  born 
blind,  and  so  had  mo  help  from  the  skill  of  man. 
This  sad  sight  touched  him  and  he  said  to  his 
dis-ci-ples,  as  long  as  I  am  in  the  world  I  am 
the  light  of  the  world;  so  I  will  give  light  to 
these  poor  blind  eyes. 

Then  he  spat  on  the  ground  and  made  clay, 
and  rubbed  it  on  the  man's  eyes,  and  told  him  to 
go  and  wash  in  the  Pool  of  Si-loam.  He  went 
and  washed,  and  when  he  came  back  he  could 
see,  but  he  did  not  see  Je-sus,  for  he  had  left  the 
place  while  the  man  was  gone.  This  was  done 
on  the  Lord's  Day.  This  blind  man  was  well 
known,  for  he  had  long  sat  by  the  way  side  and 
begged,  and  those  who  passed  saw  him  there 
each  day.  This  day  when  they  saw  him  he  saw 
them,  too,  and  they  did  not  know  what  to  think 
when  they  found  he  had  his  sight.  They  said, 
Is  not  this  he  that  sat  and  begged?  Some  said, 
It  is  he,  and  some  said,  He  is  like  him;  but  he 
said,  I  am  he.     They  asked  him  how  it  was  that 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  91 

he  could  see,  and  he  said,  A  man  that  is  called 
Je-sus  made  clay  and  rubbed  it  on  my  eyes,  and 
told  me  to  go  to  the  Pool  of  Si-loam  and  wash. 
I  went  and  washed,  and  my  sight  came  to  me. 
Then  they  said,  Where  is  the  man  who  made 
you  see!  and  he  said,  I  know  not.  So  they  took 
him  to  the  Phar-i-sees  and  when  they,  too,  asked 
him  how  he  was  cured,  he  said,  he  put  clay  on 
my  eyes  and  I  washed  and  do  see. 

They  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  the  man 
who  healed  him,  and  he  told  them  he  thought  he 
was  a  seer,  a  man  of  God.  But  the  Phar-i-sees 
said  if  he  was  a  man  of  God  he  would  not  break 
the  law,  for  it  was  on  the  Lord's  Day  that  Je-sus 
made  clay  and  rubbed  it  on  the  man's  eyes.  But 
some  said  he  must  be  a  good  man,  for  God 
would  not  let  a  bad  man  do  such  a  great  sign  as 
this.  As  they  were  not  all  of  the  same  mind, 
they  turned  once  more  to  the  man  who  had  been 
born  blind  and  asked  him,  What  did  he  do  to 
thee  ?  How  did  he  make  thee  see  ?  The  man 
said,  I  have  told  you  once ;  why  do  you  still  ask 
me?  Do  you  wish  to  be  his  dis-ci-ples  ?  But 
they  laughed  at  him  and  said  they  were  the  dis- 
ci-ples  of  Mo-ses,  for  Mo-ses  came  from  God, 


92  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

but  this  Je-sus  was  a  bad  man,  and  they  knew 
not  whence  he  came.  Then  the  man  who  was 
cured  said,  I  do  not  know  if  he  is  a  man  of  God 
or  not;  but  I  do  know  that  once  I  was  blind  and 
now  I  see.  It  is  a  strange  thing  that  you  Phar- 
i-sees,  who  think  you  know  so  much,  can  not  tell 
a  true  seer  from  a  false  one.  No  bad  man  would 
do  what  Je-sus  did,  and  if  he  were  not  sent  by 
God  I  would  still  be  blind. 

This  made  the  Phar-i-sees  rage,  and  they 
told  him  he  was  a  fool  to  try  to  teach  them  since 
they  knew  much  more  than  he  did.  So  they 
drove  him  out  of  their  sight  and  said  he  should 
come  to  their  church  no  more. 

When  Je-sus  heard  that  he  had  been  cast  out 
by  the  Jews,  he  went  to  find  him.  When  he  had 
done  so  he  said  to  him,  Hast  thou  faith  in  the 
Son  of  God  ?  The  man  said,  Who  is  he,  Lord, 
that  I  might  have  faith  in  him  ?  Then  Je-sus 
said,  Thou  hast  both  seen  him,  and  it  is  he  who 
now  talks  with  thee.  When  the  man  heard  this 
he  said,  Lord,  I  have  faith  in  thee,  and  from  that 
time  he  was  one  of  the  dis-ci-ples  of  Je-sus. 

One  day  a  man  who  was  learned  in  the  law 
came  to  Je-sus  and  asked  him  what  he  should  do 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  93 

to  be  saved.  Je-sus  said,  You  know  the  law — 
what  does  it  tell  you  to  do  ?  The  man  said  it 
bade  him  Love  God  with  all  his  heart  and  soul 
and  mind  and  strength,  and  to  love  and  help  men, 
too.  Je-sus  said,  That  is  right;  do  that  and 
thou  shalt  be  saved.  But  the  man  said,  What 
men  must  I  love  and  help  ?  Then  Je-sus  spoke 
a  par-a-ble  and  said,  A  man  went  down  from 
Je-ru-sa-lem  to  the  town  of  Je-ri-cho,  and  on 
the  way  he  fell  in  with  thieves,  who  took  his 
goods,  and  beat  him  and  left  him  half  dead  on 
the  road.  Soon  a  priest  came  that  way,  and  when 
he  saw  the  hurt  man  he  crossed  the  road  to  get 
out  of  his  way,  and  went  off  and  left  him  there. 
Next  came  a  Le-vite,  and  he,  too,  looked  at 
the  man  and  left  him  to  his  fate.  But  a  Sa-mar- 
i-tan  who  saw  his  sad  state,  went  to  him  and 
bound  up  his  wounds  and  poured  wine  and  oil  in 
them  to  cleanse  and  heal  the  sores.  Then  he  put 
him  on  his  own  beast  and  took  him  to  an  inn 
and  nursed  him  all  night.  And  when  he  left  next 
day  he  gave  the  host  two  pence  and  said,  Take 
good  care  of  that  poor  sick  man  and  the  next 
time  I  come  I  will  pay  thee  more.  Now  which 
of  these  three  men  do  you  think  kept  the  law? 


94  A    CHILD'S    LIFE    OF    CHRIST. 

The  one  who  was  good  to  the  man  who  stood  in 
need  of  help.  Yes,  said  Je-sus,  thou  hast  well 
said,  and  the  tale  shows  that  the  law  means  we 
must  love  and  help  all  men. 

Near  Je-ru-sa-lem  and  just  at  the  foot  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives  lies  the  small  town  of  Beth-any, 
where  a  wom-an  named  Mar-tha  had  a  house,  in 
which  she  lived  with  her  brother  Laz-a-rus  and 
her  sister  Ma-ry.  All  three  of  them  were  warm 
friends  of  Je-sus  and  loved  him  with  all  their 
hearts.  He  loved  them,  too,  and  was  as  glad  to 
go  to  see  them  as  they  were  to  have  him  come. 
But  one  day  when  he  was  there  Mar-tha  felt 
vexed  that  Ma-ry  left  her  to  do  all  the  house 
work,  while  she  just  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  Lord 
to  catch  each  word  that  fell  from  his  lips. 

Mar-tha  wished  to  have  the  meals  and  all 
things  in  her  house  as  good  as  they  could  be  for 
so  loved  a  guest,  and  she  thought  Ma-ry  ought 
to  help  her  cook  and  serve;  so  she  went  to  Je-sus 
and  said:  Lord,  dost  thou  not  care  that  my  sis-ter 
leaves  me  to  do  all  the  work?  Bid  her  come  and 
help  me.  But  Je-sus  said,  Mar-tha,  Mar-tha, 
you  do  not  know  what  is  best  for  you  so  well  as 
Ma-ry  does.     In  your  zeal  you  do  much  that  it 


hup 


*<ffe^ 


I  I'll  I 


^:ST. 


^^a^a»,«^?^f''-:-:^^ 

^^^. 

-^i^5iJ^C. 

^g£3&^gi 

KH^=^gB^^v_2*y 

&       V 

\  \\\^v 

II',  D 

A    \ 

4'JBH*.TfP-            =afl 

PHsnp    ~  nTS 

THE  GOOD  SA-MAR-I-TAN 


96  A    CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

is  not  worth  while  to  do.  There  is  more  than 
one  way  to  please  me,  and  Ma-ry  has  made 
choice  of  the  best  way;  for  the  things  you  do  for 
me  will  not  last  long,  but  the  things  I  do  for 
you  will  last  for  aye.  Do  not  call  Ma-ry  to  help 
you  make  a  feast  for  me,  but  come  here  and  help 
her  make  the  most  of  the  feast  I  serve  for  you. 

Thus  did  Je-sus  teach  Mar-tha  that  food  and 
drink,  and  sleep  and  rest  are  not  the  best  things 
in  the  world,  and  that  those  who  are  wise  will 
care  less  for  them  than  they  do  for  things  that 
help  the  soul. 

But  it  was  not  just  in  the  homes  of  his  friends 
that  Je-sus  was,  at  times,  a  guest.  He  went 
with  words  of  cheer  to  all  who  had  need  of  him, 
and  the  worst  of  men,  did  they  but  try  to  turn 
from  their  sins,  were  sure  of  love  and  help  from 
him. 

The  Phar-i-sees  blamed  him  for  this,  and 
said  it  was  wrong  for  him  to  walk  and  talk  and 
eat  with  those  whose  sins  were  so  well  known. 
To  show  that  God's  thoughts  were  not  as  their 
thoughts,  and  God's  heart  not  as  their  heart, 
Je-sus  told  them  this  tale:  There  was  a  man 
who  had  two  sons.     One  of  them  grew  tired  of 


MA-RY  SAT  AT  THE  FEET  OF  JE-SUS 


97 


7—  Child's  Life  of  Christ,  one  syU 


98  A    CHILD'S    LIFE    OF    CHRIST. 

his  home  and  the  dull  life  he  led  there  under 
his  fa-ther's  eye.  He  thought  it  would  be  a  fine 
thing  to  go  off  to  some  place  where  he  could 
have  a  good  time  and  do  as  he  pleased,  with  no 
one  to  watch  or  scold  him;  so  one  day  he  said, 
Fa-ther,  give  me  my  share  of  the  goods  and 
means  you  have  laid  up  for  us,  and  when  he  got 
his  share  he  set  forth  to  see  the  world.  He 
went  to  a  far  off  land,  and  there  fell  in  with  a 
bad  set,  and  led  such  a  wild  life  that  he  soon 
spent  all  his  means.  Then  there  was  a  fam-ine 
in  the  land,  and  as  he  had  spent  all  his  gold  he 
soon  came  to  want.  That  he  might  not  starve, 
he  tried  to  get  some  work;  but  all  he  could  do 
was  to  tend  swine.  This  was  low  sort  of  work 
for  a  Jew  (for  Jews  hate  swine),  but  he  was  too 
poor  to  choose  his  work  and  was  so  near  starved 
he  would  have  been  glad  to  eat  the  poor  food 
which  he  fed  to  the  swine. 

In  this  sad  plight  his  thoughts  turned  to  his 
kind  fa-ther  and  his  old  home,  and  he  longed  to 
see  them  both  once  more.  So  he  said,  I  will  not 
stay  in  this  place.  I  will  go  back  home  and  say, 
Fa-ther,  I  have  sinned  in  the  sight  of  God,  and 
have  done  much  wrong  to  thee.     I  am  too  bad 


THE   PROn-I-GAL   SON. 


99 


100  A   CHILD'S    LIFE    OF   CHRIST. 

to  be  called  thy  son,  but  let  me  be  as  one  of  thy 
hired  men. 

As  soon  as  this  thought  came  to  him,  he  rose 
at  once  and  set  out  on  his  way  back  to  his  own 
land.  When  he  drew  near  his  old  home  his 
fa-ther  saw  him  and  ran  to  meet  him  and  fell  on 
his  neck  and  kissed  him.  The  son  was  much 
touched,  and  said,  Fa-ther,  I  have  sinned  in 
God's  sight,  and  in  thy  sight,  and  I  dare  not 
hope  to  be  called  thy  son.  I  have  been  so  bad 
thou  wilt  not  wish  to  own  me  for  thy  child. 

But  the  Fa-ther  said  to  his  men,  Bring  forth 
the  best  robe  and  put  it  on  him ;  and  put  a  ring  on 
his  hand,  and  shoes  on  his  feet.  And  bring  the 
fat  calf  and  kill  it  and  let  us  eat  and  be  glad. 
For  this  my  son  was  dead,  and  now  he  lives ;  he 
was  lost  and  is  found. 

In  this  tale  Je-sus  taught  the  proud  Phar-i- 
sees  that,  though  God  hates  sin,  he  does  not 
cease  to  love  those  who  grieve  when  they  do 
wrong,  but  is  glad  to  have  them  turn  from  their 
wrong  ways  and  come  back  to  him.  The 
fa-ther  was  grieved  for  the  woes  of  his  poor  wild 
son  and  was  pleased  to  have  him  come  back  to 
his  heart  and  home :   much  more  does  the  great 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  10j 

Fa-ther  of  all  feel  for  the  woes  of  those  who, 
like  the  son  in  the  tale,  rue  their  wild  ways  and 
turn  to  him  for  love  and  help.  Since  the  Fa-ther 
sent  the  Son  to  make  him  known  to  all  men — 
the  bad  as  well  as  the  good — that  Son  (Je-sus), 
was  bound  to  treat  as  friends  all  who  came  to 
him  to  learn  his  Fa-ther's  will ;  and  it  was 
wrong  for  the  Phar-i-sees  to  blame  him  for  this. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE  PAR-A-BLE  OF  THE  RICH  MAN  AND  LAZ- 
A-RUS — OF  THE  PHAR-I-SEE  AND  THE  PUB- 
LICAN— BLESS-ES    THE     CHIL-DREN LAZ-A- 

RUS    RAISED    FROM    THE    DEAD. 

JE-SUS  knew  that  some  of  those  who  came 
to  hear  him  talk  thought  more  of  wealth, 
and  cared  more  to  be  rich  and  lead  a  life  of 
ease  than  they  did  to  do  God's  will  and  help 
those  who  were  poor  and  sick,  and  in  need  of 
aid.  To  these  folks  he  told  this  tale:  There  was 
once  a  rich  man  who  wore  fine  clothes,  and  ate 
the  best  of  rich  food ;  and  at  his  gate  there  laid  a 
poor  sick  man,   named  Laz-a-rus,  who  had  no 


102  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

good  food  nor  clothes,  and  was  full  of  sores  that 
would  not  heal.  Laz-a-rus  hoped  that  food 
might  be  sent  out  to  him,  for  he  would  have 
been  glad  to  have  had  the  scraps  that  were  left 
from  the  rich  man's  meals. 

The  dogs   seemed  to  feel  for  him,  for  they 
came   and   licked    his   sores;    but  the   rich   man. 
gave  him  no  food,  and  paid  no  heed  to  his  wants. 

At  last  Laz-a-rus  died,  and  angels  bore  him 
up  to  live  with  God,  in  a  world  of  joy  and  light, 
where  no  one  is  sick  or  sad  or  poor.  Dives  (the 
rich  man)  died,  too,  and  went  where  all  who  do 
not  love  God  go  when  they  die.  In  tor-ment  when 
he  was  in  great  pain,  he  raised  his  eyes  to  the 
king-dom  of  God,  and  there  he  saw  Laz-a-rus 
with  his  head  on  A-bra-ham's  breast.  Then  he 
cried  out  and  said,  Fa-ther  A-bra-ham,  I  beg 
thee  to  send  Laz-a-rus  here  that  he  may  dip  his 
hand  in  the  water  and  cool  the  tip  of  my 
tongue,  for  I  am  racked  with  pain  and  thirst  in 
this  flame.  But  A-bra-ham  said,  Son,  bear  in 
mind,  that  while  you  lived  you  had  all  the  joys 
the  world  could  give,  and  Laz-a-rus  had  naught 
but  grief  and  pain.  Now  he  has  bliss  and  you 
have  woe — 'twixt  him  and  you  there  is  a  great 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  103 

gulf  fixed ;  no  one  can  go  from  his  home  to 
yours ;  nor  can  one  come  from  your  home  to 
his.  Then  Dives  said,  If  he  may  not  come  to 
me  please  send  him  to  my  old  home  on  earth  to 
teach  my  friends  there  what  to  do  that  they  may 
not  have  to  come  to  this  dread  place  when  they 
die.  A-bra-ham  said,  they  know  the  laws  of 
God  ;  Mo-ses  and  the  seers  have  told  them  what 
they  should  do;  let  them  hear  them.  Then  the 
rich  man  said,  Nay,  Fa-ther  A-bra-ham  ;  but  if 
one  went  from  the  dead  to  warn  them,  they  would 
turn  from  their  sins  and  try  to  do  God's  will. 
But  A-bra-ham  said,  If  they  will  not  do  what 
Mo-ses  and  the  seers  bade  them,  they  would  not 
heed  the  words  of  one  who  went  to  them  from 
the  dead. 

This  tale  shows  that  it  is  just  as  wrong  not  to 
do  what  one  ought  to  do  as  it  is  to  do  what  one 
ought  not  to  do.  The  rich  man  did  Laz-a-rus  no 
great  harm,  but  when  he  had  a  chance  to  help 
him  he  failed  to  do  so;  and  for  that  he  was 
judged. 

To  some  men  who  thought  they  were  good 
and  scorned  all  who  did  not  keep  the  law  so  well 
as  they  did,  Je-sus  said,  Two  men,  one  a  Phar-i- 


104  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

see  and  one  a  Pub-li-can,  went  to  church  to  pray. 
The  Phar-i-see  chose  a  place  where  all  could  see 
him;  and  he  stood  up  and  said,  Lord,  I  thank 
thee  that  I  am  not  like  those  men  who  are  not 
just  and  do  not  keep  the  law — who  take  more 
than  they  have  a  right  to,  and  keep  what  is  not 
theirs.  I  fast  twice  in  the  week,  and  give  to  the 
church  one-tenth  part  of  all  I  own. 

The  Pub-li-can  knelt  where  he  thought  no 
one  could  see  him,  and  bowed  his  head  and 
smote  on  his  breast  as  he  said,  God  be  good  to 
me  and  help  me  to  get  rid  of  all  my  sins. 

Je-sus  said  God  was  more  pleased  with  this 
man  than  he  was  with  the  Phar-i-see;  for  he 
"loves  the  meek  and  will  raise  them  up,  but  will 
put  down  those  who  are  proud  and  vain. 

At  this  time  some  of  the  folks  brought  their 
boys  and  girls  and  babes  to  Je-sus  that  he  might 
lay  his  hands  on  them  and  bless  them.  The  dis- 
ci-pies thought  that  Je-sus  came  to  teach  and 
preach  to  grown  folks,  and  that  it  was  not  right 
to  ask  him  to  spend  his  time  on  those  who  were 
too  young  to  be  helped  by  him ;  so  they  chid  the 
folks  who  brought  their  babes,  and  tried  to  make 
them  leave  the  Lord  in  peace.     But  this  did  not 


A  CHILD'S   LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  105 

please  Je-sus  and  he  told  them  that  small  folks 
had  as  much  right  to  come  to  him  as  grown  folks 
had.  Then  he  took  the  babes  in  his  arms,  put 
his  hands  on  them  and  blessed  them  and  said, 
Let  them  come  to  me  and  do  not  try  to  hold  them 
back,  for  of  such  hearts  as  these  is  God's  king- 
dom made  up. 

Once  when  the  Jews  came  to  Je-sus  and 
asked  him  to  tell  them,  in  plain  words,  if  he 
were  the  Son  of  God,  Je-sus  said,  I  and  my  Fa- 
ther are  one,  by  which  he  meant  that  he  was 
God,  and  that  men  ought  to  love  and  serve  God 
the  Son  as  much  as  they  loved  and  served  God 
the  Fa-ther.  Then  the  Jews  took  up  stones  to 
throw  at  him,  but  as  his  work  was  not  yet  done, 
he  left  Je-ru-sa-lem,  and  went  to  a  place  called 
Beth-a-ba-ra. 

While  he  was  there  his  friend  Laz-a-rus,  of 
Beth-any,  fell  sick,  and  Ma-ry  and  Mar-tha 
sent  word  to  Je-sus :  Lord,  he  whom  thou  dost 
love  is  sick.  Je-sus  said,  Yes,  but  this  will  not 
end  in  death;  and  he  made  no  haste  to  go  to 
them  at  Beth-any,  but  stayed  two  days  more  in 
the  place  where  he  was.  On  the  third  day  he 
said  to  his  dis-ci-ples,  Let  us  go  to  Ju-dea  once 


106  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

more,  but  they  said,  The  Jews  of  late  sought 
to  stone  thee,  and  wilt  thou  go  back?  They 
knew  it  would  be  a  great  risk  for  Je-sus  to  be 
seen  near  Je-ru-sa-lem,  for  his  foes  there  had 
laid  a  snare  for  him  and  were  on  the  watch  to 
take  him  when  and  where  they  could.  But  he 
said,  Our  friend  Laz-a-rus  sleeps,  and  I  go  that 
I  may  wake  him  out  of  his  sleep.  He  meant 
that  he  was  dead,  and  that  he  must  go  and 
bring  him  back  to  life.  They  said,  Lord,  if  he 
sleep  he  shall  do  well;  for  they  thought  Je-sus 
meant  that  Laz-a-rus  lay  and  took  his  rest  in  a 
sound  sleep  that  would  do  him  good  and  help  to 
make  him  well.  But  Je-sus  now  tells  them  in 
plain  words,  Laz-a-rus  is  dead,  and  I  am  glad 
for  your  sakes  that  I  was  not  there,  that  your 
faith  may  be  made  strong.  But  let  us  go  to  him. 
They  did  not  wish  him  to  take  this  great  risk, 
but  when  they  found  he  would  not  be  held  back, 
Thom-as  said,  Let  us  go,  too,  that  we  may  die 
with  him.  When  Je-sus  and  his  friends  reach 
Beth-any  they  find  that  Laz-a-rus  is  in  truth 
dead,  as  he  had  told  them,  and  has  lain  four 
days  in  the  grave.  A  throng  of  friends  are  with 
Ma-ry  and  Mar-tha  in  their  house  to  weep  and 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  107 

mourn  with  them.  But  when  Mar-tha  hears  that 
Je-sus  is  near  at  hand,  she  leaves  the  hosts  of 
friends  and  goes  to  meet  the  one  friend  whose 
love  is  worth  more  than  all  the  rest.  But  Ma-ry 
sits  still  in  the  house. 

As  soon  as  Mar-tha  caught  sight  of  Je-sus 
she  cried  out,  Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here  he 
would  not  have  died.  She  had  so  much  faith  as 
that,  and  seems  to  have  had  still  more,  for  she 
adds,  And  I  know  that  though  he  is  now  dead, 
yet  God  will  give  thee  all  things  which  thou  wilt 
ask  of  him.  Je-sus  said,  Laz-a-rus  shall  rise 
from  the  dead.  Yes,  Lord,  I  know  that  he  shall 
rise  at  the  last  day  when  all  the  dead  shall  rise. 
She  has  not  yet  the  full  faith  in  Je-sus,  so  he 
tells  her  in  plain  words  that  it  is  through  him 
that  Laz-a-rus  (and  all  the  dead)  must  rise  from 
death  and  live  once  more.  He  that  hath  faith 
in  me  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live, 
and  he  who  lives  and  has  faith  in  me  shall  not 
die.  Have  you  this  faith?  Then  Mar-tha  said, 
Yes,  Lord;  I  know  that  thou  art  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  and  that  thou  canst  do  all  things. 
Then  she  went  back  to  the  house  and  told 
Ma-ry,  The  Lord  has  come  and  calls  for  you. 


10S  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

All  this  time  Ma-ry  had  been  at  home  with  the 
friends  who  had  come  to  cheer  her  and  Mar-tha 
in  their  grief:  but  when  she  heard  that  Je-sus 
had  asked  for  her,  she  rose  with  haste  and  went 
to  meet  him.  He  had  not  yet  come  through  the 
gate  of  the  town,  but  was  in  the  place  where 
Mar-tha  had  met  him. 

The  Jews  who  sat  with  her,  and  who  had  not 
heard  what  Mar-tha  said,  thought  she  meant  to 
go  to  the  grave  to  weep  there,  and  so  they  went 
with  her.  But  she  went  straight  to  Je-sus  with 
her  grief,  fell  at  his  feet,  and  said,  just  as  Mar-tha 
had  done — Lord,  if  Thou  hadst  been  here  my 
brother  had  not  died.  Tears  choked  her  voice 
and  she  could  say  no  more :  those  who  were 
with  her  wept,  too.  Je-sus  was  much  moved  at 
the  sight  of  all  these  tears,  and  said,  where  have 
ye  laid  him?    They  said,  Lord,  come  and  see. 

Jesus  wept,  and  some  of  the  Jews  said:  See 
how  much  he  loved  him !  But  some  of  the  Jews 
said,  If  this  man  can  make  blind  folks  see,  can 
he  not  make  sick  folks  well  ?  And  if  he  loved 
Laz-a-rus  so  much,  why  did  he  let  him  die  ? 

When  they  reach  the  place,  Je-sus  bids  them 
raise  the  stone  from  the  mouth  of  the  cave.     The 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  109 

tombs  in  that  land  were  hewn  in  the  rocks,  and 
a  stone  was  made  to  serve  as  a  door. 

Mar-tha  thought  Je-sus'  wish  must  be  to  see 
the  face  of  his  dear  friend  once  more  in  the  flesh, 
and  she  bids  him  call  to  mind  how  long  he  has 
been  dead,  and  that  it  will  be  best  to  think  of  his 
face  as  it  was  in  health,  and  not  look  at  it  now 
that  death  and  the  grave  had  done  their  sad 
work. 

But  Je-sus  said  to  Mar-tha,  Did  I  not  tell 
you  that  if  you  would  have  faith  you  should  see 
how  God  could  work? 

Then  those  who  stood  by  did  as  Je-sus  bade 
them,  and  took  off  the  stone  from  the  place 
where  the  dead  man  was  laid.  Je-sus  gave 
thanks  to  God,  and  said,  Fa-ther,  I  thank  Thee 
that  Thou  hast  heard  me.  I  know  Thou  dost 
hear  me  each  time  I  cry  to  Thee ;  but  for  the 
sake  of  those  who  stand  here  I  speak — that  they 
may  know  Thou  hast  sent  me.  Then  he  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  Laz-a-rus  come  forth  !  and 
he  that  was  dead  came  forth,  bound  hand  and 
foot  with  white  cloths,  and  with  a  white  cloth 
bound  on  his  face. 

Je-sus  said,  Loose  him  and  let  him  go!    Thus 


110  A    CHILD'S    LIFE    OF    CHRIST. 

did  the  Lord  keep  his  word  to  Mar-tha  and 
Ma-ry;  he  had  said,  though  Laz-a-rus  was  so 
sick,  the  end  should  not  be  death,  and  now  their 
brother  stood  there  full  of  life  and  health.  Some 
of  the  Jews  who  saw  this  proof  of  the  might  of 
Je-sus  had  faith  in  him;  but  some  of  them  went 
their  ways  to  the  Phar-i-sees  and  told  them  what 
things  Je-sus  had  done.  .  Then  the  chief  priests 
and  Phar-i-sees  said,  What  shall  we  do?  Of  a 
truth  this  man  docs  strange  things,  and  if  we  let 
him  go  on  this  way  he  will  soon  win  all  hearts. 
The  folks  will  love  and  trust  him  so  much  that 
they  will  make  him  their  king;  that  will  not  be 
safe  for  us,  for  it  will  bring  Rome  with  all  her 
hosts  to  crush  us  and  take  our  town  and  the 
whole  land.  No  it  will  not  do  for  this  man  to 
live,  said  the  High  Priest.  It  is  best  that  one 
should  die  for  us,  so  that  we  may  not  all  die. 
But  Je-sus  knew  that  his  time  had  not  yet  come, 
so  he  left  Beth-any  (which  was  so  near  Je-ru-sa- 
lem  that  he  was  not  safe  there)  and  went  to 
E-phraim,  a  small  town  where  he  was  not  so  well 
known,  and  stayed  there  till  the  time  for  the  spring 
feast  of  the  Jews  drew  near.  Here  Je-sus  had 
more  time  to  talk  to  his  dis-ci-ples,  and   he  told 


THE  GOOD  SHEP-HERD 


112  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

them  for  the  third  time  that  he  could  not  stay 
with  them  long,  as  the  chief  priests  and  Phar-i- 
sees  would  soon  take  him  and  give  him  up  to  the 
Romans,  who  would  mock  him  and  spit  on  him 
and  beat  him,  and  at  last  would  put  him  to  death 
on  a  cross  and  lay  him  in  the  grave;  but  he  told 
them,  too,  that  when  he  had  been  dead  three 
days  he  would  rise  from  the  grave. 

The  twelve  did  not  like  to  hear  of  his  sad 
fate;  they  thought  it  strange  that  he  would  let 
such  things  come  to  pass,  and  yet  they  did  not 
know  how  to  take  his  words.  They  still  thought 
that  when  he  rose  from  the  dead  he  would  reign 
like  a  king  on  earth;  and  the  mother  of  James 
and  John  asked  him  to  grant  that  her  two  sons 
might  sit,  one  on  his  right  hand  and  one  on  his 
left  in  his  king-dom.  Je-sus  said  that  those  who 
wished  to  reign  with  him  must  first  die  for  him, 
and  James  and  John  and  all  of  the  twelve  said 
they  would  do  this. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

BLIND       BAR-TIM-EUS       HEALED  —  ZAC-CHE-US 

CALLED — JE-SUS    EN-TERS    JE-RU-SA-LEM 

HE    TEACHES    IN    THE    TEM-PLE. 

JE-SUS  and  his  band  of  twelve  went  to  Jer- 
i-cho,  a  town  on  the  road  to  Je-ru-sa-lem. 
Great  crowds  joined  him  on  the  way,  and 
when  they  drew  near  the  town  they  saw  a  poor 
blind  man  named  Bar-tim-eus  who  sat  near  the 
town  gate  to  have  a  good  chance  to  beg  from  all 
who  went  in  and  out. 

Bar-tim-eus  asked  what  all  the  noise  meant, 
and  when  he  heard  that  Je-sus  was  there  he 
thought  no  more  of  mere  alms,  but  cried  out 
with  a  loud  voice,  Je-sus,  thou  son  of  Da-vid, 
help  me  !  Those  who  stood  near  tried  to  make 
him  hold  his  peace,  but  he  cried  the  more:  Thou 
son  of  Da-vid  help  me  !  Then  Je-sus  stood  still 
and  called  Bar-tim-eus  to  him  and  asked  him, 
What  wilt  thou  that  I  should  do  to  thee?  The 
blind  man  said,  Lord,  give  me  my  sight,  and 
Je-sus  said,  Go  thy  way,  thy  faith  hath  made  thee 
whole.     And  at  once  sight  came  to  his  eyes,  and 

8— Child's  Life  of  Christ,  one  syl.  113 


ni  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

he   gave  thanks  and  joined  the  ranks  of  those 
who  went  on  with  Je-sus. 

This  crowd  had  grown  to  a  long  train,  and 
as  they  marched  through  the  streets  of  Jer-i-cho, 
a  rich  man  named  Zac-che-us  who  had  heard 
much  of  Je-sus  runs  in  front  so  that  he  may  get 
a  good  place  to  stand  and  see  him  pass.  But  he 
is  so  short  that  he  fears  he  can  not  see  well  in 
such  a  crowd,  so  he  climbs  a  tree  by  the  side  of 
the  road.  From  his  safe  perch  he  looks  down 
on  the  dense  throng,  and  the  young  Jew  on 
whom  all  eyes  are  bent.  He  has  no  thought 
that  Je-sus  will  care  to  see  him.  When  Je-sus 
came  to  the  tree  he  looked  up  and  saw  him  and 
said :  Zac-che-us,  make  haste  and  come  down, 
for  I  must  be  thy  guest  to-day.  Zac-che-us 
came  down  and  took  Je-sus  to  his  home  with 
joy.  The  crowd  were  full  of  spite  and  scorn 
when  they  saw  Je-sus  had  made  choice  of  such 
a  man  for  his  host,  and  said  Je-sus  ought  not  to 
go  with  Zac-che-us,  for  he  was  not  a  good  man 
and  had  won  his  wealth  by  fraud.  This  was 
true,  Zac-che-us  was  chief  of  those  who  took  toll 
for  Rome,  and  had  sinned  in  more  ways  than 
one ;  but  now  his  heart  was  full  of  love  to  the 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  115 

Lord,  and  he  wished  to  do  all  the  good  he  could 
to  show  his  grief  for  his  past  wrongs.  He 
owned  that  he  had  not  been  kind  to  the  poor, 
but  said  he  would  now  give  them  half  of  his 
goods,  and  that  to  those  from  whom  he  once 
took  more  than  he  had  a  right  to  take  he  would 
now  give  five  times  as  much  as  he  took  from 
them.  This  was  a  proof  that  he  meant  to  turn 
from  his  sin  and  try  to  lead  a  pure  life;  so  Je-sus 
went  home  with  him,  and  to  those  who  blamed 
him  for  this  he  said  that  the  Son  of  Man  came  to 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost,  and  that 
the  worse  a  man  had  been  the  more  did  he  stand 
in  need  of  a  friend  to  help  him  do  right. 

The  next  day  Je-sus  went  to  Beth-any. 
Si-mon,  a  lep-er  whom  Je-sus  had  healed,  lived 
in  Beth-any,  and  in  his  house  a  feast  was  spread 
for  the  Lord.  Laz-a-rus  and  Si-mon,  two  men 
for  whom  Je-sus  had  done  such  great  things,  sat 
at  the  feast  with  him,  and  Mar-tha  served. 
Ma-ry  Mag-da-len  brought  a  box  of  choice  salve 
and  poured  it  on  the  head  and  feet  of  Je-sus 
while  he  sat  at  meat,  and  then  she  wiped  his  feet 
with  her  hair.  This  salve  cost  a  large  sum  and 
was  so  rich  and  rare  that  when  she  broke  the  box 


116  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

the  whole  house  was  filled  with  the  sweet  scent. 

But  there  is  one  man  there  whose  bad  heart 
robs  the  scene  of  all  the  sweet.  Ju-das,  one  of 
the  twelve,  does  not  like  what  Ma-ry  has  done. 
Why  was  not  this  salve  sold  for  a  great  sum,  as 
it  might  have  been,  that  the  poor  might  have  had 
it  in  place  of  such  a  waste  as  this?  This  he  said 
not  from  care  for  the  poor ;  for  he  was  a  thief 
and  had  the  bag  in  which  all  the  funds  were  kept, 
and  had  the  whole  charge  of  these  funds.  He 
had  put  his  hand  in  that  bag  more  than  once  for 
his  own  good,  and  he  could  not  bear  to  see  such 
a  prize  as  this  box  of  salve  would  have  been  to 
him  so  lost. 

But  Je-sus  said,  Do  not  scold  Ma-ry  nor  find 
fault  with  her,  for  she  has  done  the  best  she 
could;  she  did  it  for  love,  and  love  is  worth  more 
than  gold.  You  have  the  poor  with  you  all  the 
time  and  can  help  them  when  you  choose;  but 
you  will  not  have  me  long,  for  the  day  of  my 
death  draws  near.  Ma-ry  hath  wrought  a  good 
work  on  me,  and  I  tell  you  that  in  all  the  world 
this  thing  which  she  hath  done  shall  be  told  to 
her  praise. 

This  feast  in  Si-mon's  house  was  served  on 


JE-SUS  EN-TERS  JE-RU-SA-LEM 


117 


118  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

the  Lord's  day,  and  the  next  day  Je-sus  left  for 
Je-ru-sa-lem.  There  was  a  crowd  with  him,  as 
there  was  all  the  time,  and  more  folks  came  out 
from  Je-ru-sa-lem  to  meet  him  on  the  way ;  for 
it  was  the  time  of  the  Great  Feast  which  was 
held  there  once  a  year,  and  the  town  was  full  of 
Jews  from  all  parts  of  the  land  who  had  come  to 
take  part  in  the  feai  t. 

At  a  small  town  called  Beth-phage  Je-sus 
bade  two  of  his  friends  walk  on  till  they  came  to 
a  place  where  they  would  see  an  ass  tied,  and  a 
colt  with  her;  that  they  were  to  loose  and  bring 
to  him.  He  told  them  if  the  man  who  owned 
the  ass  and  colt  asked  them  why  they  did  this, 
just  to  say :  The  Lord  hath  need  of  them,  and 
that  then  the  man  would  let  them  do  as  they 
liked.  They  did  what  Je-sus  bade  them,  and 
they  put  their  robes  on  the  ass  and  Je-sus  sat  on 
them,  and  he  rode  thus  to  the  great  town. 

Some  of  the  folks  spread  their  clothes  on  the 
ground  and  some  cut  boughs  from  the  palm 
trees  to  spread  in  the  path ;  and  they  waved 
palm  boughs  in  the  air,  too,  and  cried :  Ho- 
san-na  to  the  son  of  Da-vid !  Blest  is  he  who 
comes  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  I 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  119 

As  the  vast  throng  move  on  with  shouts  of 
praise,  all  at  once  Je-ru-sa-lem  comes  in  view  from 
the  heights.  At  this  sight  there  came  to  Je-sus 
the  thought  of  how  soon  the  pride  of  Je-ru- 
sa-lem  must  fall ;  how  soon  the  hosts  of  Rome 
would  lay  siege  to  it,  starve  those  who  dwelt 
there,  push  down  its  walls  and  burn  the  Grand 
House  of  God.  And  as  Je-sus  looks  at  the  fair 
sight,  and  thinks  of  the  woe  that  is  sure  to  come, 
he  weeps  and  cries.  If  thou  hadst  known  at 
least  in  this  thy  day,  the  things  which  would 
give  thee  peace !  But  now  they  are  hid  from 
thine  eyes ! 

The  crowd  kept  on  with  him  all  the  way 
through  the  streets  and  up  to  the  church ;  and 
there  the  lame  and  the  blind  were  brought  to 
him,  and  he  healed  them.  When  the  Phar-i- 
sees  and  chief  priests  saw  him  do  these  things, 
and  heard  the  boys  and  girls  in  the  church  cry : 
Ho-san-na!  they  came  to  Je-sus  and  said:  Do 
you  hear  what  these  chil-dren  say,  and  all  the 
noise  they  make?  Why  do  you  not  stop  them? 
Je-sus  said,  Yes,  I  hear  them:  have  you  not 
read  in  the  Psalms  that  God  has  made  the 
mouths  of  babes  to  praise  Him? 


120  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

Je-sus  went  back  to  Beth-any  to  spend  the 
night;  but  for  the  next  four  days  he  was  in  the 
Temple  each  day  and  taught  the  folks  and  made 
such  hosts  of  friends  that  the  hate  his  foes  felt 
for  him  grew  worse  day  by  day;  but  they  did 
not  dare  to  take  him  by  force  for  they  knew  that 
all  who  stood  by  had  faith  in  him.  But  they  set 
sharp  men  to  watch  him,  that  they  might  catch 
him  in  his  words.  The  first  set  whom  they  sent 
came  with  a  lie  in  their  mouths.  Lord,  we  know 
that  thou  art  true,  and  dost  teach  the  way  of 
God  in  truth,  and  hast  no  fear  at  all  of  man. 
Now  tell  us  what  thou  dost  think.  Is  it  right 
for  us  Jews  who  are  God's  own  heirs  to  pay  a 
tax  to  Caesar,  and  thus  own  that  we  are  slaves  of 
Rome  ?  But  Je-sus  read  their  bad  hearts,  and 
saw  the  trap  which  they  had  set  for  him,  and 
said,  Why  do  you  tempt  me?  Show  me  some  of 
the  coin  with  which  you  pay  the  tax.  So,  they 
brought  him  one  of  their  pence.  Whose  face  is 
on  this  coin  and  whose  seal?  Caesar's  they  said. 
Then  give  to  Caesar  the  things  which  are  his, 
and  give  to  God  the  things  which  are  God's. 
They  were  caught  in  their  own  trap,  and  went 
their  way  in  shame. 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  121 

New  men  took  their  place,  and  sought  to 
catch  Je-sus  in  like  ways,  but  they  were  all 
put  to  shame  by  him.  At  length  when  they 
found  they  could  not  take  him  by  force  nor  by 
craft,  they  sought  to  find  some  one  of  the  twelve 
that  they  might  bribe.  And  in  this  they  did  not 
not  fail. 


CHAPTER   X. 

JU-DAS    BE-TRAYS    JE-SUS — JE-SUS    KEEPS    THE 

GREAT   FEAST THE   LAST   SUP-PER IN  THE 

GAR-DEN     OF     GETH-SEM-ANE THE    JU-DAS 

KISS JE-SUS      IS      BROUGHT      BE-FORE     THE 

HIGH     PRIEST THE     COURT     DOOMS    HIM    TO 

DEATH — THE  DEATH  OF  JU-DAS THE  FIELD 

OF    BLOOD. 

JU-DAS  IS-CAR-IOT  was  one  of  the  band 
of  twelve  men  who  stayed  with  Je-sus  all 
the  time;  who  went  from  place  to  place 
with  him,  ate  and  drank  with  him,  and  did  not 
leave  him  day  nor  night.  For  three  years  he 
had  known  the  Lord's  whole  life;  had  heard  his 
wise  words,  and  seen  his  good  deeds,  and  the 
rest  of  the  band  thought  that  he  looked  up  to  and 


122  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

loved  him  as  much  as  they  did.  But  it  seems 
that  he  cared  more  for  wealth  than  for  aught 
else,  and  that  is  why  he  liked  to  bear  the  bag  in 
which  the  funds  were  kept. 

In  a  heart  filled  with  the  love  of  gold  there  is 
no  room  for  the  love  of  Je-sus;  and  when  Ju-das 
found  that  the  king-dom  of  Je-sus  was  not  of  this 
world,  and  that  he  had  naught  to  give  his 
friends,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  sell  Je-sus  to 
his  foes. 

He  heard  that  the  court  sits  that  day  in  the 
house  of  the  high  priest  who  had  long  sought  to 
get  hold  of  Je-sus,  so  he  goes  there  and  asks 
how  much  they  would  pay  him  if  he  would  give 
him  up  to  them.  They  named  a  small  sum,  and 
from  that  hour  Ju-das  sought  a  chance  to  give 
up  Je-sus  to  the  Court  in  such  a  time  and  way 
as  not  to  rouse  the  rage  of  his  friends. 

The  next  day  was  that  on  which  the  Great 
Feast  was  to  be  kept,  when  the  lamb  was  to  be 
slain  at  God's  house,  and  all  were  to  eat  of  it, 
and  think  how  God  had  led  them  from  the  land 
of  Egypt,  where  they  had  been  slaves  so  long. 
In  all  the  years  that  had  passed  since  then  the 
Jews  had  not  once  failed  to  keep  this  feast.   Each 


A  CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  123 

spring  they  went  to  Je-ru-sa-lem  and  ate  the 
meal  in  just  the  way  God  bade  them,  and  as  it 
was  now  time  for  the  feast,  the  twelve  asked  Je- 
sus where  it  should  be  eaten  this  year.  He  said, 
Go  to  such  a  man  and  say  to  him,  the  Lord  bids 
us  say  to  thee,  My  time  is  at  hand.  I  will  keep 
the  feast  at  thy  house  with  my  friends.  He  will 
show  you  a  large  guest  room  in  which  you  may 
set  out  the  feast. 

So  that  night  he  sat  down  in  this  man's 
house  to  eat  his  last  meal  with  the  twelve  who 
had  been  his  close  friends  so  long.  As  they  ate, 
he  said  to  them,  My  heart's  wish  has  been  to 
keep  this  feast  with  you.  But  I  tell  you  that  one 
of  you  acts  the  spy  and  waits  a  chance  to  give 
me  up  to  my  foes!  His  hand  is  now  on  the 
board  with  me!  Ju-das  knew  what  these  words 
meant,  but  the  rest  did  not,  and  it  grieved  them 
to  think  that  one  of  them  could  do  an  act  so 
base.  Each  one  asked,  Lord,  is  it  I  ?  None  of 
them  seems  to  have  thought  of  Ju-das,  and  each 
doubts  his  own  heart.  Lord,  is  it  I  ?  And  Je- 
sus said  to  them,  It  is  one  of  the  twelve  which 
shall  dip  with  me  in  the  dish.  This  did  not  lay 
their  fears  to  rest,  so  Pe-ter  made  a  sign  to  John 


124  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

to  ask  him  once  more  to  tell  whom  he  meant. 
So  John  asks,  Lord,  who  is  it?  Je-sus  says 
much  as  he  had  done  at  first,  It  is  he  to  whom  I 
shall  give  a  sop  when  I  dip  it.  One  dish  at  this 
feast  was  a  sauce  made  of  some  wine  and  dates 
and  figs.  When  the  time  came  to  serve  the 
herbs,  the  chief  would  wrap  them  round  a  piece 
of  bread  and  dip  them  in  this  sauce  and  pass 
them  on  to  each  of  the  guests.  So  Je-sus  did  at 
this  time,  and  Ju-das  seems  to  have  been  the 
first  to  whom  he  gave  this  sop.  When  he  took 
it,  he  was  false  as  to  ask,  Lord,  is  it  I  ?  Then 
Je-sus  said  to  him,  Thou  hast  said,  and  then 
adds,  What  you  mean  to  do,  do  with  speed. 

Ju-das  left  the  house  and  went  straight  to  the 
chief  priests  and  scribes  and  Phar-i-sees  and  told 
them  that  Je-sus  was  now  at  the  feast,  and  that 
as  soon  as  the  meal  was  at  an  end  he  meant  to 
go  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  to  pray;  he  said  as 
there  would  be  no  one  with  him  but  his  dis-ci- 
ples,  this  would  be  a  good  time  to  send  a  band 
to  take  him,  and  he  would  show  their  men  the 
way. 

While  they  sat  still  at  the  board  Je-sus  told 
his  friends  what  he  would  like  to  have  them  do 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  125 

from  time  to  time  to  keep  him  in  mind  when  he 
should  have  gone  back  to  his  home  on  high. 
This  is  what  he  would  have  them  do.  He  too"k 
one  of  the  thin  cakes  of  bread  which  were  made 
use  of  at  the  feast,  and  broke  it  in  bits,  and  gave 
it  to  them  and  said,  Take,  eat,  this  is  my  flesh 
which  I  give  for  you.  Do  this  that  you  may 
keep  me  in  mind — me,  my  words,  my  deeds. 

Then  he  took  the  wine  cup  which  made  part 
of  the  feast,  and  gave  thanks,  and  gave  it  to 
them  with  the  words,  Drink  ye  all  of  it.  This  is 
my  blood,  which  is  shed  to  wash  out  your  sins. 

And  so  to  this  day  we  do  as  he  bade  his 
friends  to  do  that  night.  We  keep  a  feast  from 
time  to  time,  in  which  we  eat  bread,  and  drink 
from  a  cup,  and  think  of  Je-sus,  and  what  he  did 
for  us.  Each  time  we  do  so,  Je-sus  gives  us  a 
new  pledge  of  his  love  to  us,  which  was  so  great 
that  he  laid  down  his  own  life  for  us,  and  we 
give  him  a  pledge  that  we  will  love  and  serve 
him.  St.  Paul  says,  As  oft  as  ye  eat  this  bread 
and  drink  of  this  cup,  ye  do  show  forth  the 
Lord's  death  till  he  come. 

Je-sus  spoke  more  words  of  peace  and  love 
to  them.     He  blessed  them,  and  said,  Fear  not, 


126  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

and  do  not  let  your  hearts  be  sad.  Peace  I  leave 
with  you,  my  peace  1  give  you — not  such  peace 
as  the  world  gives,  but  the  true  peace  that  none 
but  my  dis-ci-ples  can  feel.  Then  they  sung  a 
hymn,  and  went  out  though  it  was  night,  to  the 
Mount  of  Olives. 

Here  was  a  grove  of  the  trees  which  gave 
their  name  to  the  mount,  where  Je-sus  had  been 
wont  to  seek  rest  and  to  pray.  When  they  came 
to  the  gate  which  led  to  this  nook,  he  took  Pe- 
ter, and  James,  and  John  in  with  him,  but  bade 
the  eight,  Sit  ye  here  while  I  go  and  pray. 

He  went  a  stone's  throw  from  them,  and  fell 
on  his  face  and  prayed  three  times,  O  my 
Fa-ther,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me  if  it  be  thy 
will :  but  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt.  It  was 
God's  will  that  his  dear  Son  should  drain  the 
cup  to  the  dregs,  but  he  gave  him  strength  to 
do  it,  and  sent  an  an-gel  to  help  and  cheer  him 
on  this  last  day  of  his  life  on  earth.  While 
Je-sus  prayed,  the  dis-ci-ples  worn  out  with 
grief  and  want  of  rest  had  slept;  but  now  Je-sus 
waked  them  and  told  them  to  rise,  for  Ju-das 
had  come  with  a  band  of  armed  men  to  take  him 
from  them. 


JE-SUS  WASH-ES  THE  DIS-CIP-LES'  FEET 


127 


128  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

Ju-das  greets  Je-sus  with  a  kiss.  He  has 
been  wont  to  do  this  no  doubt,  for  in  the  East 
this  is  the  way  men  meet  their  friends.  But  the 
kiss  to-night  is  a  sign.  Ju-das  has  told  the 
band,  He  whom  I  shall  kiss,  that  same  is  he! 
Take  him,  hold  him  fast,  and  lead  him  back  to 
those  who  sent  you. 

Hail,  Lord !  said  he,  as  he  gave  him  the  false 
kiss.  Friend,  why  art  come  ?  Ju-das  dost 
thou  give  up  the  Son  of  man  with  a  kiss?  That 
is  all  that  he  said  to  Ju-das. 

Then  Je-sus  steps  forth  from  the  shade  of 
the  grove  to  meet  the  band,  and  asks,  Whom 
seek  ye?  Je-sus  of  Naz-a-reth.  I  am  he.  At 
these  words  they  shrank  back,  and  fell  to  the 
ground.  But  his  hour  had  come.  He  lets  them 
rise,  and  asks  once  more,  Whom  seek  ye  ?  and 
they  said  Je-sus  of  Naz-a-reth.  Have  I  not  told 
you  I  am  he?  If  ye  seek  me,  take  me,  and  let 
these  men  who  are  with  me  go  their  way. 

When  the  fiiends  of  Je-sus  saw  the  band  lay 
hold  of  him,  and  bind  his  hands,  they  said, 
Lord,  shall  we  not  smite  with  the  sword  ?  And 
Pe-ter   who    could    not   wait   to  be  told,  smote 


A    CHILD'S    LIFE    OF    CHRIST.  129 

with  such  haste  that  he  did  not  take  good  aim, 
and  just  cut  off  the  ear  of  one  of  the  men ! 

Je-sus  bade  Pe-ter  put  up  the  sword,  and  he 
touched  the  man's  ear  and  healed  him ;  thus  the 
last  good  deed  he  did  was  to  help  one  who  had 
tried  to  harm  him.  He  said  to  Pe-ter,  Do  you 
think  that  this  mob  could  take  me,  if  I  did  not 
let  them?  If  I  would  but  ask  for  them,  would 
not  God  send  his  hosts  to  my  aid  ?  But  how 
then  could  that  end  for  which  I  came  to  the 
world  be  brought  to  pass  ? 

To  the  chief  priests,  and  to  all  the  crowd 
which  came  out  to  seize  him  he  said,  Why  have 
you  come  out  to  take  me  as  if  I  were  a  thief, 
with  swords  and  staves?  I  sat  with  you  in 
God's  house,  and  taught  you  from  day  to  day, 
but  you  laid  no  hands  on  me.  But  this  is  your 
hour.  When  the  friends  of  Je-sus  heard  these 
words  from  him,  they  knew  that  there  was  no 
hope  that  he  would  use  his  might  to  save  his 
own  life  ;  so  they  all  left  him  and  fled !  All  but 
Ju-das,  who  goes  with  the  band  that  he  may 
clutch  the  price  of  Je-sus'  blood. 

Je-sus  was  led  at  once  to  the  house  of  the 
high  priest,  where  were  all  the  chief  priests  and 

Q—  Child's  Life  of  Christ,  one  sj/l. 


130  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

the  whole  court,  though  it  was  not  yet  dawn. 
They  did  not  wait  till  day,  but  make  haste  to  do 
their  foul  work  and  doom  Je-sus  to  death,  by 
stealth,  so  that  his  friends  may  not  try  to  save 
him. 

The  court  could  make  out  no  case.  They 
ask  Je-sus  to  tell  the  names  of  those  who  were 
in  his  band,  and  to  make  known  what  he  has 
taught.  Je-sus  bids  them  not  to  ask  him,  but  to 
ask  the  crowds  whom  he  has  taught  from  place 
to  place,  in  all  the  land,  and  in  the  House  of 
God  at  Je-ru-sa-lem.  One  of  the  guards  who 
stood  by  struck  Je-sus  (his  hands  were  bound 
fast  you  know)  with  the  palm  of  his  hand,  and 
said,  Dost  thou  speak  in  that  way  to  the  high 
priest?  If  I  speak  ill,  prove  it;  but  if  well,  why 
dost  thou  smite  me?  said  Je-sus.  No  proofs 
could  be  brought  that  he  had  done  or  said  ought 
that  was  bad.  But  at  last,  two  false  men  were 
brought  in  who  swore  that  he  had  heard  him  say 
that  he  could  tear  down  the  House  of  God,  and 
build  it  up  in  three  days.  Then  the  high  priest 
bade  him  make  known  what  he  had  to  say  to  this 
charge.     Je-sus  held  his  peace. 

Then  the  high  priest  said  to  him,  Art  thou 


CRU-CI-FY  HIM!  CRU-CI-FY  HIM  J 


131 


332  A   CHILD'S    LIFE  OF    CHRIST. 

the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ?  I  charge  thee  in  the 
name  of  God  to  tell  us  if  thou  be  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God.  Je-sus  said,  I  am;  but  ye  shall  yet 
see  the  Son  of  man  sit  on  the  right  hand  of  God, 
and  come  in  the  clouds. 

Then  the  high  priest  rent  his  clothes,  to  show 
what  a  shock  it  gave  him  to  hear  Je-sus  thus 
claim  to  be  the  Son  of  God.  What  need  have 
we  to  seek  for  proofs  ?  We  have  heard  his  own 
words.  What  do  you  think?  Then  all  the  court 
said,  He  ought  to  be  put  to  death. 

The  court  broke  up  now  for  a  time,  to 
meet  once  more  in  a  few  hours.  Je-sus  is  left 
in  charge  of  the  guard  in  the  high  priest's  house. 
Then  the  men  that  hold  Je-sus,  mock  him  and 
smite  him.  Some  spit  on  him.  Then  they  blind 
his  eyes  and  strike  him  on  the  face,  and  bid  him 
tell  who  smote  him.  Tell  us,  thou  Christ,  who 
is  he  who  smote  thee.  Je-sus,  faint  with  the 
woe  which  he  had  born  in  Geth-sem-ane,  and 
with  all  that  he  has  been  through  in  this  long 
ni^ht,  bears  all  this  base  spite,  and  ill  use.  He 
is  dumb,  though  a  word  from  him  could  have 
slain  them  all.  All  this  took  place  at  night,  but 
by  the  laws  of  the  Jews,  a  man  could  not  be  tried 


A  CHILD'S   LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  133 

for  his  life  at  night,  so  the  court  had  to  meet  once 
more  by  day,  to  make  sure  what  they  had  done. 

As  soon  as  it  was  day  Je-sus  was  led  to  the 
court,  and  the  same  form  was  gone  through  with 
as  when  they  had  sat  at  night  They  ask,  Art 
thou  the  Christ?  and  he  says,  If  I  tell  you,  you 
will  not  have  faith  in  me.  Then  said  they  all, 
Art  thou  then  the  Son  of  God?  He  said  to  them, 
Ye  say  that  I  am.  Then  they  all  said,  What 
need  have  we  to  hear  proof?  We  have  heard  it 
from  his  own  mouth. 

There  was  one  man  to  whom  the  doom  of 
Je-sus  by  the  court  brought  grief,  and  shame, 
and  death.  Things  had  not  turned  out  as  Ju- 
das thought  they  would.  It  was  plain  that  Je- 
sus would  not  use  his  might  to  save  his  own 
life,  nor  prove  that  he  was  the  Christ  of  God  by 
some  great  sign,  which  should  force  the  court  to 
own  him. 

Ju-das,  was  of  course,  cast  out  by  his  old 
friends,  but  no  one  else  took  him  up.  The  chief 
priests  and  scribes  who  had  made  him  their  tool 
have  no  word  for  him  now  that  they  have  Je 
sus  in  their  hands.  They  pay  him  his  bribe,  but 
bad  as  they  are,   they  scorn  him  as   he  takes  it, 


134  A   CHILD'S    LIFE  OF   CHRIST. 

for  it  is  the  price  of  the  blood  of  his  best  friend, 
and  much  as  they  want  men  who  will  swear  in 
their  court  that  Je-sus  has  said  such  and  such 
words,  they  tempt  Ju-das  with  no  more  bribes. 
He  was  then,  as  now,  and  through  all  time  he 
will  be,  the  scorn  of  the  foes  as  well  as  of  the 
friends  of  Je-sus. 

His  poor  soul  can  stand  no  more.  He 
breaks  in  on  the  court  which  would  not  call  him, 
and  at  this  late  hour  he  gives  in  his  word  for 
Je-sus.  His  is  the  first  voice  to  speak  for  him, 
in  whom  there  was  no  sin.  He  cries,  It  is  my 
sin  that  I  gave  him  up  to  you,  him  who  is  pure 
of  all  sin!  What  is  that  to  us,  see  thou  to  that. 
Then  Ju-das  casts  down  the  bribe,  and  went  out 
and  put  an  end  to  his  own  life. 

The  chief  priests  pick  up  the  coin,  but  will 
not  put  it  back  with  the  funds  of  the  house  of 
God,  for  it  has  the  stain  of  blood  on  it,  since  it 
bought  the  blood  of  Je-sus.  They  at  last  make 
up  their  minds  to  buy  a  field  in  which  to  lay  the 
dead  who  have  no  tomb  of  their  own,  nor 
friends  to  give  them  a  grave.  And  to  this  day 
that  place  which  they  thus  bought,  bears  the 
name  of  the  Field  of  Blood. 


136  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

Though  the  doom  of  death  has  been  set  on 
Je-sus  by  the  court,  yet  they  have  no  right  to 
do  the  deed.  The-  Jews  were  not  free  at  this 
time,  and  they  must  ask  leave  of  Rome  ere  they 
can  put  a  man  to  death. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

JE-SUS  IS  BOUND  AND  BROUGHT  TO  BE  JUDGED 
BY  PI-LATE — HE  SENDS  HIM  TO  HE-ROD, 
WHO  MOCKS  HIM,  AND  SENDS  HIM  BACK — 
JE-SUS  IS  NAILED  TO  THE  CROSS — HIS  DEATH 
— A  WATCH  IS  SET  ON  HIS  GRAVE  BY  THE 
JEWS. 

THE  next  day  Je-sus  was  bound  and  led  to 
Pi-late,  who  ruled  in  Je-ru-sa-lem  at  that 
time  for  Rome,  that  he  might  judge  him. 
WJtat  the  chief  priests'  hoped  was  that  Pi-late 
would  bid  them  go  and  do  their  will  with  Je-sus. 
They  know  that  the  case  is  too  weak  to  bear 
sharp  search  from  his  eye.  But  Pi-late  hates  the 
Jews,  and  he  will  not  be  a  mere  tool  in  their 
hands.  He  bids  them  tell  him  with  what  they 
charge  the  man  whom  they  have  there  bound. 


A  CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  137 

The  priests  do  not  wish  to  tell  Pi-late  how  slight 
their  charge  is,  so  they  say,  If  he  had  not  done 
wrong  we  should  not  have  brought  him  to  you. 

Pi-late  says,  Judge  him  by  your  own  law. 
He  says  this  to  vex  them,  for  they  now  have  to 
say  the  law  will  not  allow  them  put  a  man  to 
death.  They  take  a  new  course  to  get  Pi-late  on 
their  side,  and  make  up  a  fresh  charge.  They 
say,  We  found  this  man  had  tried  to  lead  the 
Jews  to  cast  off  the  yolk  of  Rome.  He  told 
them  not  to  pay  Cae-sar's  tax,  but  said  he  was 
Christ,  the  King  of  the  Jews. 

Then  Pi-late  took  Je-sus  one  side  to  talk  with 
him.  He  asks,  Art  thou  the  King  of  the  Jews  ? 
Jesus  said,  I  am;  but  my  king-dom  is  not  of  this 
world.  If  I  were  of  this  world,  then  would  they 
who  serve  me  fight,  and  save  me  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  Jews.  As  thou  hast  said,  I  am  a 
king.  To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause 
came  I  to  the  world  that  I  might  make  known 
the  truth.  He  that  is  of  the  truth  will  hear  my 
voice. 

Pi-late  said  to  him,  What  is  truth  ?  and  then 
took  Je-sus  out  to  the  Jews,  and  said,  I  find  no 
fault  in  this  man.   Then  the  chief  priests  charged 


138  A   CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST. 

him  with  new  faults.  Pi-late,  as  he  heard  them, 
said  to  Je-sus,  Dost  thou  not  hear  all  these  things 
with  which  they  charge  thee?  But  Je-sus  said 
not  a  word.  The  chief  priests  then  said,  He 
stirs  up  the  Jews.  He  has  taught  through  all 
the  land  from  Gal-i-lee  to  this  place. 

When  Pi-late  heard  that  Je-sus  came  from 
Gal-i-lee,  he  was  glad  of  the  chance  to  get  rid 
of  the  mob  and  their  suit.  He-rod,  the  King  of 
Gal-i-lee,  was  in  town  at  the  time,  so  Pi-late 
bade  the  chief  priests  take  Je-sus  to  him. 

Now  He-rod  had  a  strong  wish  to  see  Je-sus. 
He  had  thought  at  one  time  that  he  must  be 
John  the  Bap-tist,  whom  he  had  slain,  and  who 
had  come  back  to  life.  He  was  glad  when  he, 
of  whom  he  had  heard  so  much,  was  brought  to 
him.  His  hope  was  that  Je-sus  would  do  some 
great  sign  in  his  sight.  But  Je-sus  stood  still, 
with  weak,  pale  face,  and  bound  hands.  He 
knew  that  He-rod  had  no  faith  in  him,  so  he 
would  not  talk  or  work  miracles  for  him;  and 
this  vexed  He-rod  so  much  that,  though  he 
could  find  no  crime  that  he  had  done  and  so 
could  not  put  him  to  death,  he  and  his  men  made 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  CAL-VA-RY 


139 


140  A   CHILD'S    LIFE  OF   CHRIST. 

sport  of  him,  and  dressed  him  like  a  mock  king, 
and  sent  him  back  to  Pi-late. 

When  Pi-late  finds  that  the  case  yet  rests 
with  him,  he  still  means  to  let  Je-sus  free.  He 
tells  the  priests  and  the  mob,  I  have  found  no 
fault  in  Je-sus  nor  has  He-rod,  so  I  will  scourge 
him  and  then  let  him  go.  He  thought  he  could 
keep  at  peace  with  the  chief  priests  if  he  should 
scourge  Je-sus,  and  yet  he  could  save  his  life. 

But  the  Jews  cried  out,  If  you  let  this  man 
go,  you  are  no  friend  of  Cae-sar's.  When  Pi-late 
heard  the^e  words,  he  said,  Shall  I  put  your  King 
to  death  ?  but  they  cried,  We  have  no  king  but 
Cae-sar;  when  Jesus  says  he  is  a  king,  he  does  a 
wrong  to  Cae-sar,  and  when  he  says  he  is  the 
Son  of  God,  he  does  a  wrong  to  God:  our  law 
says  he  who  does  that  must  be  put  to  death,  and, 
as  Cae-sar  wants  you  to  rule  us  by  our  laws,  if 
you  break  those  laws  he  will  not  let  you  rule 
at  all. 

At  each  of  these  feasts  of  the  Jews,  some  one 
who  had  been  shut  up  in  jail  for  crime  was  set 
free,  and  Pi-late  meant  to  let  Jesus  go  on  this 
plea.  While  he  sat  on  the  throne  of  the  judge, 
his  wife  sent  word  to  him  that  she  had  a  dream 


A  CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST.  141 

as  to  "that  just  man"  Je-sus,  which  gave  her 
great  fright  and  pain,  and  she  bade  Pi-late  do 
him  no  harm. 

This  made  Pi-late's  wish  still  more  strong  to 
set  Je-sus  free.  Once,  twice,  three  times  he  tries 
to  save  him.  But  the  mob  cries,  Not  this  man, 
to  go  free,  but  Bar-rab-as.  (Bar-rab-as  was  a 
Jew  who  had  killed  some  one,  and  was  in  jail  at 
this  time.) 

Pi-late  then  asks,  But  what  shall  I  do  with 
Jes-us,  whom  ye  call  the  King  of  the  Jews? 
The  chief  priests  urge  on  the  mob,  and  all  cry 
out,  To  the  cross,  to  the  cross  with  him !  But 
Pi-late  still  pleads  with  them,  why,  what  wrong 
thing  has  he  done?  But  their  cries  ring  out 
more  loud  and  fierce,  To  the  cross  with  him !  to 
the  cross  with  him! 

Pi-late  gives  in  to  the  mob;  he  fears  they 
might  bring  tales  of  him  to  great  Cae-sar  at  Rome 
which  would  cost  him  his  place,  but  he  stands  up 
in  the  sight  of  all  the  crowd  to  wash  his  hands, 
as  a  sign  that  the  guilt  of  Je-sus'  blood  would 
not  rest  on  him.  I  am  clean  of  the  blood  of  this 
just  man,  said  he,  see  ye  to  it.     The  Jews  cried 


142  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF  CHRIST. 

out,  We  will  bear  the  blame  of  it;  his  blood  be 
on  us  and  on  our  children. 

Then  Pi-late  freed  Bar-ra-bas,  but  took  Je-sus 
and  gave  him  up  to  those  whose  place  it  was  to 
use  the  scourge.  When  the  whip  had  done  its 
work,  Pi-late  gave  Je-sus  up  to  the  mob  to  do 
their  will  with  him  His  own  men  of  war  sieze 
the  chance  of  brute  sport.  They  once  more  put 
on  the  red  robe  which  He-rod  gave  him  in  scorn, 
and  which  had  been  stripped  off  when  he  gave 
his  back  to  the  scourge.  They  weave  a  crown 
for  him  out  of  a  shrub  which  has  leaves  of  rich, 
dark  green,  but  which  has  stiff,  sharp  thorns 
which  pierce  the  skin  as  they  force  it  on  his  brow. 
They  put  a  reed  in  his  right  hand,  they  bow  the 
knee  to  him  and  mock  him  as  they  cry,  Hail, 
King  of  the  Jews !  Then  they  smite  him  with 
their  hands;  they  spit  on  him;  they  snatch  from 
him  the  reed,  and  smite  him  on  the  head  with  it, 
though  each  blow  drives  in  the  thorns  more  and 
more. 

Pi-late  is  not  at  ease.  He  hears  the  shouts 
and  howls  and  blows  of  the  brutes  in  the  hall, 
and  goes  out  once  more  to  see  the  "just  man" 
Je-sus,  whom  his  own  act  has  made  their  prey. 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  143 

The  sight  of  the  white,  sad  face  with  blood 
drops  on  the  brow,  but  with  firm  sweet  lips  that 
will  not  curse  or  cry,  moves  the  heart  of  Pi-late. 
He  hopes  the  same  sight  may  move  the  mob  who 
wait  at  the  door  and  in  the  street  for  their  turn  at 
the  given  sport.  So  he  leads  Je-sus  forth  in  the 
robe  and  crown,  and  pleads,  See  the  man  !  I 
bring  him  forth  that  ye  may  know  that  I  find  no 
fault  with  him. 

The  sight,  so  full  of  woe,  seems  but  to  rouse 
more  thirst  for  the  blood  of  Je-sus,  and  the  chief 
priests  once  more  lead  the  cry,  To  the  cross 
with  him!  Pi-late  yields  to  their  threats  and 
gives  up  Je-sus  to  them  to  be  put  to  death  on 
the  cross. 

The  Jews  take  Je-sus  and  lead  him  out,  they 
too,  mock  him,  they  take  off  from  him  the  king's 
robe  and  put  his  own  clothes  on  him,  and  lead 
him  out  through  one  of  the  gates  of  the  town. 

On  his  back,  sore  with  the  wounds  which  the 
scourge  has  made,  they  lay  the  cross  of  wood  on 
which  he  is  to  die.  But  he  is  too  faint  and  weak 
from  the  long  fast  and  his  loss  of  blood  to  bear 
it,  and  he  sinks  with  its  weight,  they  chance  to 
meet  a  man  named  Si-mon,  who  is  on  his  way  to 


14-4  A  CHILD'S   LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

town,  and  stop  him  and  make  him  bear  the  cross 
for  Je-sus. 

Then  the  train  once  more  moves  on,  more 
and  more  join  it.  There  are  some  whose  hearts 
ache  at  the  sight  of  such  shame  and  woe  as  are 
put  on  Je-sus,  and  they  break  out  in  sobs  and 
cries.  The  sad  wail  comes  to  the  ears  of  him  for 
whom  they  mourn,  and  he  turns  to  speak  to  them: 
Weep  not  for  me,  ye  wives  of  Je-ru-sa-lem,  but 
weep  for  your  own  fate  and  that  of  those  whom 
you  have  borne.  The  days  are  near  at  hand 
when  she  who  has  borne  no  child  shall  be 
thought  the  most  rich  of  you  all.  Then  shall  all 
cry  to  the  rocks,  Fall  on  us!  and  to  the  hills, 
Hide  us!  For  if  they  do  these  things  in  a  green 
tree,  what  shall  be  done  in  the  dry? 

The  place  where  the  cross  was  to  be  set  up 
was  a  round  knoll,  which  was  shaped  so  like  a 
skull  as  to  go  by  that  name — The  Place  of  a 
Skull. 

To  add  to  the  shame  of  the  scene,  two  thieves 
had  been  brought  with  them  to  meet  the  same 
death  with  him  who  had  no  sin. 

They  nailed  the  feet  and  hands  of  Je-sus  to 
the  cross,  and  all  the  while  Je-sus  prayed,   Blot 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 


145 


out  their  sin,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do. 
And  now  they  lift  up  the  three  and  make  each 
cross  firm  in  its  place.  Je-sus  is  in  the  midst, 
and  the  two  thieves  on  the  right  hand  and  the  left. 

Pi-late  sent  a  scroll  to  be  put  on  the  top  of 
Je-sus'  cross.  He  wrote  it  with  his  own  hand  in 
three  tongues,  so  that  all  who  went  by  could  read 
it:  Je-sus  of  Naz-a-reth,  the  King  of  the 
Jews. 

Some  of  the  chief  men  of  the  Jews  are  there 
to  watch  him;  and  they  mock  him  with  the  cry, 
Let  him  save  his  own  life  if  he  be  the  Christ  of 
God. 

The  cross  stood  near  the  gate  of  the  town, 
which  was  filled  with  the  great  crowd  who  came 
up  from  all  parts  of  the  land  to  keep  the  Feast, 
so  that  a  throng  went  back  and  forth  by  the  cross. 
All,  as  they  drew  near  and  read  the  scroll  which  is 
on  Je-sus'  cross,  feel  the  scorn  which  Pi-late 
has  shown  them  in  its  words,  and  vent  on  Je-sus 
the  rage  which  they  dare  not  show  to  Pi-late. 

So  they,  too,  rail  on  Je-sus  and  take  up  the 
cry  of  the  chief  priests,  If  thou  be  the  Son  of 
God  come  down  from  the  cross,  that  we  may  see 
and   have   faith  in  theel      And  the  priests  and 

IO—  Child's  Life  of  Christ,  une  wC 


146  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

scribes  once  more  mock  him  and  cry,  He  came 
to  save  us,  but  he  cannot  save  his  own  life. 

One  of  the  thieves  adds  his  voice  to  the  shout 
of  scorn  and  rage  and  says,  If  thou  be  the  Christ 
save  thine  own  self  and  us!  But  the  thief  who 
hangs  on  the  third  cross,  chides  him  for  his 
words:  Dost  thou  not  fear  God  since  the  same 
doom  is  on  thee?  We,  in  truth,  ought  to  be 
here,  but  this  man  has  done  no  wrong.  And  he 
said  to  Je-sus,  Think  of  me  when  thou  art  on  thy 
throne.  Je-sus  said  to  him,  This  day  shalt  thou 
be  with  me  where  God  is. 

And  I,  if  they  lift  me  up,  will  draw  all  men  to 
me.  So  Je-sus  had  said  months  since,  and  now 
this  thief  at  the  point  of  death,  leads  the  great 
host  who  have  been  drawn  and  shall  yet  be 
drawn  to  the  cross  of  Je-sus. 

There  is  a  group  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  on 
which  Je-sus  looks  with  love.  Ma-ry,  his 
moth-er,  and  John,  the  one  of  the  twelve  most 
dear  to  him.  As  he  looks  on  the  dear  face  which 
has  been  bent  on  him  with  love  and  awe  from  the 
first  hour  of  his  life  till  now,  he  longs  to  make 
sure  that  she  will  have  love  and  care  to  the  last, 
and  he  bids  John  who  knows  most  of  him  and 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  147 

his  love,  take  his  place  and  be  a  son  to  her. 
From  that  hour  he  took  her  to  his  own  home. 

At  noon  a  change  comes  on  the  scene,  the 
three  who  hang  on  the  cross  still  live,  and  the 
crowd  still  surge  at  the  foot  and  send  up  their 
jeers  and  taunts  at  him  who  hangs  in  the  midst 
But  all  at  once  all  grows  dark,  the  sun  hides  its 
face,  not  in  clouds  which  soon  drift  by  and  leave 
it  clear  and  bright;  but  for  three  long  hours  there 
is  uo  light. 

But  at  the  nimh  hour  (that  is  three  o'clock) 
Je-sus  cries  out  with  a  loud  voice,  My  God!  My 
God!  why  hast  thou  left  me?  It  was  not  mere 
pain  which  wrung  that  cry  from  his  heart,  but  the 
same  woe  which  he  had  borne  in  Geth-sem-ane. 
It  was  the  sins  of  the  world. 

Then  he  cried,  I  thirst,  and  some  one  who 
stood  by  wet  a  sponge  in  sour  wine  and  put  it  on 
a  large  reed  so  that  it  would  reach  his  lips,  and 
he  drank.  Then  Je-sus,  who  knew  that  all  which 
the  word  of  God  had  said  that  the  Christ  must 
do  and  bear  had  now  been  done,  said,  It  is  done, 
and  then  with  a  loud  cry  to  God,  he  bent  his 
head  on  his  breast  and  died. 

At  that  last  cry  the  earth  shook ;    the  rocks 


148  A   CHILD'S   LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

were  rent,  and  the  veil  of  God's  house  was  torn 
in  twain  ;  and  the  graves  gave  up  their  dead. 

Then  came  a  new  proof  that  Je-sus  Christ 
on  his  cross  will  draw  all  men  to  him.  Those 
who  kept  watch  of  Je-sus  while  he  hung  on  the 
cross,  when  they  saw  what  was  done  cried.  In 
truth  this  was  the  Son  of  God ! 

Some  of  the  Jews  who  did  not  know  that 
Je-sus  was  dead,  and  who  did  not  wish  that  the 
cross  should  still  stand  on  God's  day  which  now 
drew  near,  went  to  Pi-late  to  beg  that  he  would 
have  his  guards  break  the  legs  of  those  who 
hung  there,  and  thus  put  a  quick  end  to  their 
life.  So  they  broke  the  legs  of  the  two  thieves, 
but  when  they  came  to  Je-sus  they  found  him 
dead,  so  they  did  not  break  a  bone  of  him,  as  it 
had  been  said  of  him  like  a  lamb  slain  for  the 
feast,  they  shall  not  break  a  bone  of  him. 
There  was  a  rich  man,  Joseph  of  Ari-ma-thea, 
a  judge  of  high  rank,  and  well  known  to 
Pi-late  who  begs  leave  to  take  the  corpse  of  Je- 
sus. Pi-late  does  not  know  what  to  make  of  it 
when  he  hears  that  Je-sus  is  so  soon  dead.  Death 
on  the  cross  is  a  slow  mode  of  death  and  Je- 
sus has  hung  there  but  six  hours  at  the   most. 


A  CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST.  149 

Pi-late  sends  for  the  chief  of  his  troops  who 
were  there  to  watch  the  scene,  and  learns  from 
him  that  it  is  so  in  truth.  Then  he  gives  Jo- 
seph leave  to  do  what  he  asks.  Jo-seph's  own 
grounds  are  near  at  hand,  and  in  them  is  a  new 
tomb  which  he  has  had  hewn  out  of  the  rock, 
but  where  no  one  has  as  yet  been  laid. 

Jo-seph,  and  Ni-co-de-mus  (he  who  went 
to  Je-sus  by  night  for  fear  of  the  Jews  two  or 
three  years  back),  take  Je-sus  down  from  the 
cross.  They  wrap  the  limbs  in  soft  fine  bands 
and  rare  drugs,  and  lay  him  in  the  tomb,  and 
roll  a  great  stone  to  the  door,  and  left  him  there, 
and  make  haste  back  to  the  town,  so  that  they 
may  reach  it  ere  the  first  hour  of  God's  day  shall 
strike,  which  will  be  six  o'clock  of  the  night  of 
that  same  day  on  which  Je-sus  died. 

The  chief  priests  went  to  Pi-late  and  said,  It 
has  come  to  our  minds  that  Je-sus  said  that  he 
would  rise  on  the  third  day ;  so  we  pray  thee  to 
have  men  watch  the  tomb  lest  some  of  his  friends 
come  by  night  and  steal  him,  and  then  go  and 
say  that  he  rose  from  the  dead. 

Pi-late  said,  Ye  have  a  watch;  go  your  way; 
make  it  as  sure  as  you  can. 


15Q  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

So  they  went  and  put  a  seal  of  wax  on  the 
great  tomb,  and  set  men  to  watch  by  the  tomb. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

JE-SUS  LEAVES  THE  GRAVE — THE  WOMEN  AT 
THE  TOMB — TWO  AN-GELS  AP-PEAR  TO  THEM 
AND  TELL  THEM,  "HE  IS  RIS-EN" — JE-SUS 
AP-PEARS  TO  MAG-DA-LENE,  TO  TWO  DIS-CI- 
PLES  ON  THEIR  WAY  TO  EM-MA-US,  AND  TO 
ALL      THE      DIS-CI-PLES — THE      DOUBTS      OF 

THOM-AS — JE-SUS    GOES    UP    TO    HEAV-EN 

THE  DIS-CI-PLES  ARE  FILLED  WITH  THE 
HO-LY  GHOST — THEY  GO  OFF  TO  PREACH 
THE   WORD. 

THEIR  care  was  in  vain.  On  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  long  ere  it  was  light,  an  an-gel 
came  and  broke  the  seal  and  rolled  the 
stone  from  the  grave  and  sat  on  it.  His  face 
shone  like  light  and  his  robe  was  as  white  as 
snow.  At  sight  of  him,  those  who  kept  watch, 
shook  with  fear  and  were  like  dead  men. 

Just  as  the  sun  rose,  Ma-ry  Mag-da-lene, 
Ma-ry  Cleo-phas,  and  Sa-lome  came  to  the 
tomb,  and  brought  sweet  spice  and  fine  salve  to 


Copyright,  lyoj,  by  Henry  Altrmus 

MA-KY  MAG-DA-LENE  AT  THE  TOMB 


151 


152  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST. 

rub  the  body  of  Je-sus.  But  as  they  come  up  to 
the  great  rock  in  which  the  tomb  is  cleft,  they  see 
the  stone  is  gone.  Ma-ry  Mag-da-lene,  in  her 
grief  and  fear  lest  the  dear  corpse  of  the  Lord 
has  come  to  harm,  does  not  wait  to  look  through 
the  door  of  the  tomb,  but  flies  back  to  Je-ru-sa- 
lem  and  finds  Pe-ter  and  John  and  tells  her  sad 
tale,  They  have  borne  off  the  Lord  from  his 
tomb,  and  we  know  not  where  they  have  laid  him. 

But  the  two  friends  whom  Mag-da-lene  left  at 
the  tomb,  go  in  to  see  if  they  could  find  some  trace 
of  their  Lord.  There  sits  a  young  man  clad  in  a 
long  white  robe  who  calms  their  fears  at  once. 

Fear  not,  he  says,  I  know  that  ye  seek  Je-sus 
of  Naz-a-reth,  who  died  on  the  cross.  He  is  not 
here.  He  rose  from  the  dead  as  he  said  he 
would  do.  Come,  see  the  place  where  the  Lord 
lay.  But  go  your  way  with  speed,  and  tell  his 
friends  and  Pe-ter,  that  he  rose  from  the  dead 
and  will  meet  you  in  Gal-i-lee.  There  shall  ye 
see  him  as  he  said  to  you.     Lo!   I  have  told  you. 

And  they  went  out  with  haste  from  the  tomb, 
and  with  fear  and  dare  speak  to  no  one  by  the 
way,  but  ran  with  the  good  news  to  the  friends 
of  Je-sus. 


^LXvS^^S3 


MA-RY  KNEW  HER  RIS-EN  LORD 


153 


154  A   CHILD'S   LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

In  the  mean  time  Pe-ter  and  John  have  set 
out  in  great  haste  to  see  with  their  own  eyes 
what  Mary  Magdalene  had  told  them  of. 

They  both  ran,  but  John  got  to  the  tomb 
first,  and  bent  down  to  look  in.  He  saw  no  one, 
but  there  lay  the  fine  white  bands  in  which  fond 
hands  had  wrapt  Je-sus  the  night  of  his  death. 
But  Pe-ter,  when  he  came  up,  did  not  stop  at 
the  door.  He  went  right  in  the  tomb,  and  saw 
the  clothes.  These  clothes  did  not  look  as  if 
they  had  been  torn  off  in  haste,  but  they  lay  in 
neat  folds,  each  in  its  place.  Then  John  went 
in,  and  he  saw  these  things,  and  knew  that  Je- 
sus had  left  the  grave  of  his  own  free  will. 

Then  Pe-ter  and  John  went  back  to  their  own 
home.  But  Mary  Mag-da-lene  did  not  go 
She  stayed  to  weep.  The  glad  thought  that 
Je-sus  could  and  must  rise  from  the  dead  to  prove 
the  truth  of  all  that  he  had  said  and  done,  has 
not  as  yet  made  its  way  to  her  heart.  She 
clings  to  the  sad  thought  that  the  foes  of  Je-sus 
must  have  come  to  steal  his  corpse  lor  some 
bad  end  of  their  own,  and  that  she  can  not  strew 
the  sweet  gifts  she  had  brought  on  his  grave. 

As  she  weeps,  she  stoops  down  to  look  in,  and 


THE  WEEP-ING  MAG-DA-LENE 


155 


156  A   CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

sees  two  forms  of  light,  who  sit  on  each  side  of 
the  place  where  Jesus  had  lain.  They  say  to 
her,  Why  dost  thou  weep  ? 

They  have  borne  off  my  lord,  and  I  know 
not  where  they  have  laid  him. 

When  she  had  said  this,  she  turns  her  head 
and  sees  Je-sus,  who  stands  near  her.  But  her 
heart  is  so  full  of  fear  and  grief,  and  her  eyes  of 
tears,  that  she  does  not  know  him.  She  thinks 
he  must  be  the  man  who  has  charge  of  Joseph's 
grounds,  and  says  to  him,  Sir,  if  thou  hast  borne 
him  hence,  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him,  and 
I  will  take  care  of  him. 

Ma-ry! 

What  a  thrill  the  well  known  voice  of  Je-sus 
must  have  sent  through  that  sad  heart  of  hers! 

She  falls  down  and  tries  to  clasp  his  feet,  but 
all  she  can  say  is,  My  Lord!  But  Je-sus  bids 
her  touch  him  not,  for  he  has  not  yet  gone  up  on 
high.  But  he  bids  her,  too,  go  and  tell  his 
friends  that  he  will  soon  go  back  to  his  God  and 
their  God. 

On  her  way,  Sa-lome  and  Ma-ry  Cleo-phas 
join  her,  and  Je-sus  meets  them  and  bids  them 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  157 

Fear  not,  but  go  and  tell   my  friends  to  go  to 
Gal-i-lee,  and  there  shall  they  see  me. 

But  when  they  tell  his  friends  of  what  they 
have  seen  and  heard,  they  have  no  faith  in  their 
words. 

That  same  day,  two  friends  of  Je-sus  were 
on  their  way  to  Em-ma-us,  which  was  eight  miles 
from  Je-ru-sa-lem.  As  they  walk  they  talk  of 
the  sad  scenes  in  Pi-late's  hall,  on  the  road  to 
Cal-va-ry,  and  of  the  death  on  the  cross.  In  the 
midst  of  this  talk  one  joins  them  whom  they 
know  not  (it  is  said  that  their  eyes  were  held  so 
they  did  not  know  him),  and  asks  them  why  they 
are  so  sad. 

Cleo-pas  (that  is  the  name  of  one  of  them) 
said  that  He  who  asks  this  can  not  have  been 
in  Je-ru-sa-lem,  since  he  does  not  know  the  things 
which  have  come  to  pass  there  in  these  days. 

What  things  ?  asked  their  new  friend. 

Why  how  Je-sus  of  Naz-a-reth,  who  spoke 
such  words  and  wrought  such  great  deeds  in  the 
sight  of  all  men,  has  been  put  to  death  on  the 
cross  by  our  chief  priests  and  those  who  rule  us. 
Our  hope  was  that  it  had  been  he  who  should 
save  Israel,  and  this  is  the  third  day  since  these 


158  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

things  were  done.  Some  of  our  friends  who 
went  to  his  tomb  at  dawn,  found  that  he  was 
not  there,  and  say  that  they  saw  Forms  of  Light, 
and  were  told  by  them  that  Je-sus  still  lives. 

He  who  had  met  them  heard  them  through, 
and  then  said,  O  fools  and  slow  of  heart,  to 
trust  all  the  words  which  ye  have  heard  as  to  Je- 
sus and  his  work!  Ought  not  Je-sus  to  have 
borne  all  these  things  to  prove  his  claims? 

And  then  he  went  back  to  what  Mo-ses  and 
men  of  old  wrote  of  Je-sus  that  he  might  show 
them  how  all  things  had  been  done  by  Je-sus  of 
Naz-a-reth  which  it  had  been  said  the  Christ 
should  do.  But  still  their  eyes  were  held,  and 
they  knew  him  not. 

When  they  came  to  Em-ma-us,  he  made  as  if 
he  would  have  gone  on,  but  they  beg  him  to 
stay  with  them.  They  know  not  who  he  is,  but 
they  feel  that  it  is  good  to  be  with  him.  When 
they  urge  that  the  day  is  far  spent  and  the  night 
draws  on,  he  turns  in  with  them  to  the  house 
where  they  are  to  stay.  But  their  guest  is  soon 
their  host;  for  it  came  to  pass  as  he  sat  at  meat 
with  them  he  took  bread  and  blessed  it,  and 
brake  and   gave   to  them.     Now  their  eyes  are 


A   CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST.  159 

held  no  more,  and  they  know  their  Lord!  But 
as  they  gaze  at  him  in  awe  and  love,  he  fades 
from  their  sight,  and  they  see  him  no  more. 
Then  how  they  call  up  all  his  words  and  looks 
by  the  way,  and  cry,  Did  not  our  hearts  burn  as 
he  spoke  with  us  by  the  way?  And  they  rose 
up  that  same  hour,  though  night  drew  on,  and 
went  back  to  Je-ru-sa-lem  to  tell  their  friends 
what  things  were  done  in  the  way,  and  how  Je- 
sus was  made  known  to  them  as  he  broke  the 
bread. 

That  same  night  the  friends  of  Je-sus  met  by 
stealth,  and  with  shut  doors,  for  fear  of  the  Jews. 
All  at  once  Je-sus  stood  in  their  midst  with  the 
words,  Peace  be  with  you!  They  are  in  great 
fear  at  this  sight,  and  think  it  is  his  ghost,  for  he 
has  made  his  way  to  them  in  spite  of  shut  doors 
and  bolts  and  bars. 

But  Je-sus  said,  Why  do  you  fear?  and  why 
do  such  thoughts  rise  in  your  hearts?  See  my 
hands  and  my  feet  that  it  is  I ;  touch  me  and  see, 
for  a  ghost  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see 
me  have. 

When  he  shows  them  his  hands  and  feet  with 
the  rents  which  the  nails  of  the  cross  had  made 


160  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

in  them,  and  the  wound  of  the  spear  in  his  side, 
then  were  they  glad,  as  they  saw  the  Lord.  To 
make  them  still  more  sure  that  it  is  not  his  ghost, 
he  asks  for  food,  and  eats  in  their  sight. 

Then  once  more  Je-sus  said,  Peace  be  to 
you!  as  God  has  sent  me  forth,  so  send  I  you, 
and  as  he  breathes  on  them  he  gives  them  the 
Ho-ly  Ghost. 

Now,  there  was  one  of  the  twelve  who  was 
not  at  the  place  where  they  met  that  night,  and 
when  those  who  had  been  there  told  him  what  he 
had  lost,  he  doubts  their  word.  He  said,  I  shall 
have  no  faith  that  it  is  he  if  I  can  not  see  in  his 
hands  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  touch  the  prints 
of  the  nails,  and  thrust  my  hand  in  his  side  I 

But  the  next  week,  when  they  met  on  what 
has  been  known  from  the  day  when  Je-sus  rose 
from  the  dead  till  now,  as  the  Lord's  day,  Thom-as 
was  there. 

When  all  were  in  and  the  doors  shut,  Je-sus 
stands  forth  in  their  midst,  and  says,  Peace  be 
to  you !  Then  he  turns  to  Thom-as,  whose 
head  doubts,  though  his  heart  loves,  and  says, 
See    and    touch    the    prints   of  the   nails  1      Put 


JE-SUS  BLESSED  THE  DIS-CIP-LES 
11— Child's  Life  of  Christ,  one  syl. 


161 


162  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

thy  hand  in  my  side,  and  doubt  no  more,  but 
have  faith  in  me ! 

Thom-as*  doubts  all  fly  at  these  words.  He 
does  not  care  to  see  or  touch  the  wounds  of  his 
Lord's  flesh,  for  he  sees  through  that  torn  flesh 
the  God  with  us  of  whom  Isa-i-ah  sung,  and 
cries  My  Lord,  and  my  God ! 

Je-sus  next  meets  his  friends  as  he  had  told 
them  he  would,  in  a  mount  in  Gal-i-lee.  His 
band  seem  not  to  have  yet  seen  what  Je-sus 
meant  to  have  them  do.  They  do  not  break  up, 
and  yet  some  of  them  seem  to  have  gone  back 
to  their  old  trades.  Pe-ter,  at  least,  as  he  stands 
once  more  on  the  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Gal-i-lee 
feels  his  old  de-sires  come  back,  and  cries  out  I 
shall  go  and  fish !  Four  or  five  of  Je-sus' 
friends  who  chance  to  be  with  him  at  the  time, 
say,  We  will  go  with  thee.  So  they  sail  out 
on  the  lake  and  toil  all  night,  but  catch  no  fish. 

At  dawn  Je-sus  stood  on  the  shore,  but  they 
knew  him  not.  Nor  do  they  know  him  when  he 
asks  if  they  have  caught  no  fish.  When  they 
tell  him  that  they  have  not,  he  bids  them  cast 
their  net  on  the  right  side  of  the  ship  and  they 
shail   find   fish.      Still  they  know  not  that  it  is 


164  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

Je-sus,  but  as  they  throw  the  net  where  he  bade 
them,  it  fills  with  fish  at  once,  so  that  they  can 
not  draw  the  net  back  on  board  the  boat !  Then 
John  said  to  Pe-ter,  It  is  the  Lord  ! 

Pe-ter  cares  no  more  for  the  fish  when  he 
hears  that  glad  word.  He  caught  up  his  coat 
which  he  had  laid  off  in  his  toil,  and  sprang  into 
the  sea,  and  made  for  the  shore  as  fast  as  he 
could.  The  rest  of  the  crew  come  on  in  the 
boat,  and  drag  the  net  with  them.  When  they 
reach  the  shore  they  find  a  fire  of  coals,  and  fish 
laid  on  it,  and  bread.  Je-sus  bids  them  bring 
some  of  the  fish  from  the  net,  and  they  find  it 
full.  Then  Je-sus  said  to  them,  Come  and 
dine,  and  they  drew  near,  but  dare  not  speak  to 
him. 

Je-sus  now  acts  as  their  host.  He  took  bread 
and  gave  to  them,  and  fish  as  well. 

When  the  meal  is  done,  Je-sus  turns  to  Pe-ter 
and  speaks  words  which  must  have  been  like 
balm  to  his  sore  heart.  Pe-ter's  grief  is  still  fresh 
for  the  wrong  he  had  done  his  Lord,  when  he 
said  three  times  that  he  knew  him  not,  in  the 
dark  hour  when  he  was  left  to  trust  to  his  own 
weak  heart.     But  he  now  hears  him  to  whom  he 


A  CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST.  165 

had  been  so  false,  say,  in  mild,  sweet  tones, 
Si-mon,  son  of  Jo-nas,  dost  thou  love  me  more 
than  these  ? 

Pe-ter  is  not  so  rash  as  he  was,  and  does  not 
boast  of  his  love,  but  he  is  sure  of  it,  Yes, 
Lord,  thou  dost  know  that  I  love  thee.  Je-sus 
then  shows  him  how  he  can  make  proof  of  his 
love;  Feed  my  lambs.  Help  the  young  and 
the  weak  to  find  their  strength  and  life  in  your 
Lord.  But  Je-sus  asks  once  more,  in  the  same 
words.  Si-mon,  son  of  Jo-nas,  dost  thou  love 
me  ? 

Yes,  Lord;  thou  dost  know  that  I  love  thee. 

Feed  my  sheep. 

The  third  time  Je-sus  asks,  Si-mon,  son  of 
Jo-nas,  dost  thou  love  me ! 

Three  times  Pe-ter  has  said,  of  Je-sus,  I 
know  not  the  man,  and  three  times  he  must  own 
his  love  to  Je-sus.  Peter  grieves  that  his  Lord 
should  ask  him  this  the  third  time,  but  says  with 
all  his  heart,  Lord,  thou  dost  know  all  things ; 
thou  dost  know  that  I  love  thee. 

Feed  my  sheep. 

Then  Je-sus  tells  Pe-ter  by  what  mode  of 
death  he  will  die,  in  these  words;  When  thou 


1(36  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

wert  young  thou  didst  gird  thee,  and  walk  where 
thou  didst  please ;  but  when  thou  shalt  be  old, 
strange  hands  will  gird  thee  and  bear  thee  where 
thou  wouldst  not. 

And  so  it  came  to  pass,  for  Pe-ter  was  to  serve 
Je-sus  all  his  life,  and  prove  his  love  to  him  when 
an  old  man,  by  death,  for  his  name's  sake.  Bad 
men  would  gird  him,  as  they  had  bound  his 
Lord,  to  the  cross. 

It  is  said,  that  when  the  hour  came  for  him  to 
be  made  fast  to  the  cross  on  which  he  was  to  die, 
the  thought  of  how  false  he  had  been  to  his  Lord 
clung  to  him,  and  made  him  beg  those  who  were 
to  nail  him  to  the  wood  to  place  him  with  his 
head  down,  for  he  said  he  was  not  fit  to  die  by 
the  same  death  with  his  Lord. 

When  Pe-ter  has  heard  what  his  own  fate  is 
to  be  he  wants  to  know  what  will  come  to  John. 
He  knows  how  fond  Je-sus  has  been  of  John 
who  sat  with  his  head  on  his  Lord's  breast  at 
their  last  feast,  and  so  he  asks,  Lord,  and  what 
shall  this  man  do? 

je-sus  does  not  choose  to  tell.  If  I  will  that 
he  stay  till  I  come,  what  is  that  to  thee  ? 

John  who  tells  us   this,  says,  that  some  who 


JE-SUS  GOES  BACK  TO  HEAV-EN 


167 


168  A  CHILD'S   LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

heard  it  thought  Je-sus  meant  by  this  that  John 
should  not  die,  but  states  that  that  was  not  what 
Je-sus  said  at  all,  but,  If  I  will  that  he  stay  till 
I  come,  what  is  that  to  thee? 

Once  more  Je-sus  met  his  friends  at  Je-ru-sa- 
lem,  and  told  them  what  their  work  in  the  world 
was  to  be.  Not  to  fish  or  to  take  tolls,  but  to 
spread  the  good  news  in  Je-ru-sa-lem  first,  and 
then  through  all  the  world.  He  bids  them  stay 
in  Je-ru-sa-lem  till  the  Ho-ly  Ghost  shall  come 
down  on  them  to  fit  them  for  this  great  work, 
and  then  go  forth  and  preach  in  his  name. 

Je-sus  stayed  on  earth  two  score  days  from 
the  day  when  he  rose  from  the  dead.  He  gave 
proof  on  proof  that  he  was  the  same  Je-sus  who 
had  died  on  the  cross.  He  made  them  see  at  last 
what  all  his  life  had  not  taught  them,  that  he  was 
in  truth,  the  King  of  kings,  though  not  like  this 
world's  kings,  and  that  they  were  to  spread  his 
king-dom  till  it  should  take  in  all  the  world.  He 
told  them,  too,  that  in  this  great  work,  though  he 
would  be  hid  from  their  sight,  yet  he  would  be 
with  them.  Lo!  I  am  with  you  at  all  times,  to 
the   end   of  the  world.     And  when  he  had  thus 


A  CHILD'S   LIFE  OF   CHRIST.  169 

taught  them,  and  made  them  strong  in  the  faith4 
he  left  them  to  do  his  work. 

He  leads  them  out  as  far  as  Beth-any,  and 
there  lifts  up  his  hands  to  bless  them.  While  he 
thus  stands  with  eyes  that  beam  with  love,  and 
hands  that  bless,  he  floats  through  the  air  up  and 
up  and  up,  till  a  cloud  veils  him  from  their  sight! 
It  is  not  strange  that  this  weak  band  should 
stand  and  gaze  and  gaze  in  hope  that  they  may 
yet  catch  a  wave  of  those  hands  which  bless  to 
the  last,  or  a  glimpse  of  the  robe  which  shrouds 
his  form.  But  they  look  in  vain.  A  voice  at 
their  side  brings  their  eyes  back  to  earth.  There 
stood  with  them  two  men  in  white  robes  who 
say,  Ye  men  of  Gal-i-lee,  why  stand  ye  and 
thus  gaze  ?  This  same  Je-sus  who  has  thus 
gone  from  your  sight,  shall  come  once  more  as 
ye  have  seen  him  go. 

They  went  back  to  Je-ru-sa-lem  as  Je-sus 
bade  them,  and  for  ten  days  they  stayed  there 
and  prayed  and  gave  thanks  to  God.  At  the 
end  of  that  time,  one  day,  all  at  once,  they  heard 
a  loud  noise  like  the  sound  of  a  great  wind.  It 
filled  the  whole  house ;  and  what  looked  like 
flames  of  fire,  in  the  shape  of  tongues,  came  in 


170  A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

the  room  and  rested  on  their  heads,  and  they  were 
filled  with  the  Ho-ly  Ghost,  and  they  at  once 
spake  with  strange  tongues,  so  that  those  who 
heard  them  thought  they  were  drunk. 

But  if  they  were  drunk  it  was  not  with  wine 
but  with  joy,  for  that  might  which  Je-sus  said 
should  one  day  be  theirs  had  come  to  them.  Now 
they  knew  what  the  life  and  death  of  Je-sus 
meant  to  all  the  world,  and  from  that  day  they 
lived  but  to  teach  and  preach  of  him  and  his  love. 
They  went  to  all  lands,  and  spread  the  glad  news 
from  place  to  place,  and  did  the  same  sort  of 
signs  and  good  works  that  Je-sus  used  to  do 
when  he  was  on  earth.  The  most  tim-id  of  them 
lost  all  fear  and  bold-ly  taught  the  crowds  of  the 
love  of  Je-sus  for  man  and  urged  them  to  re-pent 
and  be  saved  in  His  name.  And  many  did  re- 
pent and  were  bap-tized  and  spread  the  faith  in 
dis-tant  lands.  Like  Je-sus  they  gave  up  their 
lives  for  their  teach-ings,  but  their  blood  was  the 
seed  of  the  faith  that  has  grown,  like  a  vine,  and 
covered  the  earth  to  the  glo-ry  of  God  and  the 
joy  of  man. 

May  God  give  to  each  read-er  of  this  book 
the  strength  to  hold  the  faith  to  the  end  so  that 


A   CHILD'S    LIFE   OF    CHRIST.  171 

like  Paul  they  can  say  as  their  last  words:  I 
have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  kept  the  faith. 
A-men. 


